Summer Rain
by bluelikeskies
Summary: In the midst of the Uchiha-Senju war, Uzumaki Naruto of Senju finds time to skip stones in the river. Between the dancing ripples and shining stones, however, he also finds an unlikely friendship with a boy from the forest.
1. Prologue: The Rain

A/N: I'm so nervous about publishing this that my hands are sweating. This is a piece that I have been working on for over a year now. So yes, the story is nearly complete and is going through an editing process at the moment. This came to me in a dream, almost, when I was in a low place in my life. I grasped onto it and built it up. Originally, I wasn't planning on sharing it at all, but now I'm going to put it out to the world because I believe Naruto and Sasuke deserve this. This story has become my world, essentially. I hope you all enjoy.

Note: There's a bit of complexity that went into the naming of these characters. I'm writing this story based in ancient Japan (around the time in which Hashirama and Tobirama lived) with a few tweaks here and there, meaning that there's magic and spirits and stuff. Also, the family lineages are a bit different because I wanted to fit a lot of older characters into this story. Note: Tsunade is no longer the granddaughter of Hashirama; she'll be a cousin. Not everything lines up with Japanese tradition, so I wanted to explain the naming situation. In the world I created, a woman does not change her last name when she marries. The child will bear the name of the dominant, greater clan. So technically, it's possible for a man to marry into the family of a woman in that the child bears the name of the woman's family (ha in your face, society). When the two clans are of equal title in a marriage, an agreement will be made in which one clan will live under the name of the other. It's not always easy to come to this agreement, but it has been done. Hence, if clan A lives under the name of clan B, then the child will receive the name: A (name) of B.

I do not own Naruto.

* * *

 **Prologue: The Rain**

Two hours past midnight, the sky begins to cry. Its tears dance delicately over leaves in a light mist. When the earth is damp, the mist condenses into heavy, cascading streams descending from dark clouds masked against a lightless sky. Energy rises within massive clouds and light slices through the hushed blanket of the night. Deep rumbles resound through the great expanse of sky. Deep inside the heart of the noble Uchiha House, a young black-haired boy sleeps soundly in his futon with a belly full of rainbow dango, oblivious to the great sorrow of the world outside.

The boy stirs slightly at the feeling of wetness on his cheek, but drowsily decides to ignore it. Just as he is lulled back to the edge of a deep slumber, a drop of wetness lands on his forehead and slips down to his temple. Above him, he hears a soft hiccup. He lifts heavy eyelids to find his mother crouched above him, weeping in the darkness.

"Kaasan?" He murmurs, sitting up. His bloodline-enhanced eyes quickly adjust to the darkness, and his acute eyesight makes out the wet splashes of crimson in his mother's white festival kimono, the dark red bleeding into carefully sewn tendrils of the Uchiha fire. As a boy born into war, the sight of blood is nothing new. In the distance, he makes out sounds of battle from the rumbling sky and the patter of rain against the roof. He instinctively knows that these sounds are too close to be a faraway battle—the clan is under attack.

Uchiha Mikoto smiles bravely through the tears falling down her cheeks. She presses the bundle she had been holding against her chest into the arms of her eldest son, and tells him with a breaking voice, "The Senju are here. Take Sasuke, and run. Take care of him."

The intelligent boy looks into his mother's pleading eyes and understands that this is the last time he will see her. He nods, taking his baby brother's life into his arms. His mother holds him close one last time, and presses a kiss into his hair. "Itachi, I love you. Know that, and find it in yourself to forgive me one day. I couldn't protect you two, but I need you to protect Sasuke. You are strong. Now go. Don't come back, until the war is over. It'll be safe then."

The sounds of war drift closer with each passing breath. Mikoto rises to her feet and shoves her son out of the room. She pushes him out the back door of their home, and watches as her beloved, five-year-old boy sprints away from her.

* * *

Itachi runs with his baby brother pressed to his heart, each bare foot leaving small imprints in the mud, each breath painfully echoing through his chest. Far behind him, his family members continue to fall, one by one, until a snow-haired Senju general calls for the raid to end. The Senju part from Uchiha territory, leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints quickly washed away in the rain.

Itachi is fast, but it takes two of his strides to match one of a grown man's. He enters the forest that separates the two clan territories long before the Senju do, but he is barely halfway through the dense woods when the pounding footsteps begin to close in. He can sense that they are slightly to his left; if he is careful, he can let them outrun him without detection. But the rain makes the ground slick, and as a flash of light breaks the sky, his small foot slips on a loose root. The night releases a low rumble. In his descent, he twists to the side, landing on his back with a grunt and a dull thud. The thunder fades out, leaving behind only the soft patter of rain. His baby brother, startled by the sudden jerk, lets out a single cry. Itachi holds him close to his chest, but he can hear sharp words being exchanged by the group of men. Then, he catches the sound of two men racing through the undergrowth in his direction.

He scrambles up, slipping a few times in his haste. Adrenaline races through him as he bolts through the woods, his heart pounding against his brother's cheek. His strides are too small. He quickly finds a large bush and dives underneath it. Inside, he breathes once, twice, then kisses his baby brother's forehead and places him on the damp ground. He tucks him firmly into his bundled blanket. "I'll come back for you, Sasuke. I promise."

Itachi climbs out from the thick bush and sees his footprints in the mud. He looks back one last time before taking off in the opposite direction. He can hear the men running to Sasuke, and he lets out a yell. They pursue him. He runs, and does not return.

* * *

On the other side of the forest, tucked in the warmth of the Uzumaki House of Senju, lies a laboring mother. Uzumaki Kushina of Senju takes another unsteady breath, gripping her husband's hands until she cuts off his circulation. She heaves, her fiery hair plastered against a forehead beaded with sweat. Pain grips her to the bone, but all she can do is push, push, push. She breathes and pushes until she hears the sweet screech of her firstborn child.

"A boy," Senju Tsunade exclaims as she catches the slippery baby and wraps the newborn in a blanket. Bright flowers of blood sprinkle the cloth as she clips the umbilical cord.

Kushina smiles through her tears and exhaustion as she holds her firstborn son. She glances at his tuft of golden hair and exclaims to her husband, "He's blonde!"

Namikaze Minato chuckles softly as he stretches out his sore hand, "Seems like he is."

"I was hoping he'd have Uzumaki's red hair," the new mother pouts theatrically. "But it's okay, he's perfect."

Minato laughs and presses a soft kiss to his wife's head, "He is."

In that moment, the leader of the Senju bursts through the doors in a bubble of excitement. Kushina hands the infant to her excited father, who smiles broadly down at his new grandson. He takes a minute to admire the blue-eyed boy, overflowing with compliments, before turning to Minato, "I understand that naming traditions are beginning to change, but I would still like to give this child the name of the prevailing clan in the marriage."

The new father nods respectfully at the commander, "I have no objections."

Kushina kisses her humble husband on the cheek before turning to her father, and says, "The first name remains as we have chosen."

The commander nods happily and nips his right thumb, breaking skin. He presses it again the child's forehead, "I, Senju Hashirama, hereby welcome Uzumaki Naruto of Senju to the world as an honorable member of the Senju clan."

As if in giddy agreement, newly named Uzumaki Naruto of Senju gurgles at his grandfather, who responds with a hearty laugh.

* * *

Deep in the dense forest, a young Uchiha Sasuke sleeps, unaware of his family's fate and the sky's sorrow. Curled around him is a cerulean spirit taking the shape of a two-tailed feline. The forest spirit shields the infant from the falling rain, leaving him dry and warm.

 _ **Matatabi, what are you doing?**_

The feline lifts her head to find her curious friend peering at the sleeping child.

 _ **It's a baby**_ , she exclaims, delighted. _**I found him.**_

 _ **It's a human. Get rid of it.**_

 _ **Oh, Kurama. He's harmless. Look.**_ Matatabi shifts away so that the great fox spirit can peer closer at the baby boy. His nine tails sway from side to side with his irritation and curiosity.

 _ **You know what humans do to us.**_

 _ **He's only an infant. We can raise him to be different.**_ The feline looks upon the child affectionately. In that moment, Gyūki, the eight-tailed bull spirit, joins them. He gently prods the baby's cheek with a tentacle tail, and laughs when Sasuke scrunches up his face.

 _ **It'll be fun,**_ he says. _**I've been rather bored lately.**_

Kurama huffs, but does not protest. He will never admit this, but deep inside, he finds a small twinkle of excitement. He sees a small silk ribbon peeking out of the boy's blanket, and tugs it out. Bringing it up to his face, he inspects the embroidering. A part of it had been snipped clean off—perhaps intentionally—but he can read the remaining letters. _**Sasuke.**_

The scarlet fox raises his head as the storm begins to lift at the crack of dawn.

* * *

In the entrance of the Senju Compound, snow-haired Senju Tobirama kneels before his clan leader, feeling dampness seep into his uniform as his left knee digs into the wet dirt. Behind him, his loyal unit mimics his position, heads low. Hashirama stands at the doorway of his home in his white yukata, dark hair billowing in the breeze. His mouth is set into a deep frown as his stern gaze takes in the men before him. Fourteen men. His brother returned six short.

"Senju Tobirama," he says. His brother rises and the two walk into the Commandant Room. He orders the guards out with a wave of his hand and slides the shōji door shut behind him. "It has come to my understanding that you have disobeyed my orders and led a direct attack on the Uchiha. In return, we have lost six men."

"It was a prime opportunity," explains Tobirama. "The Uchiha had just celebrated the Fire Festival—sake was abundant. Defense was not."

"You lost six perfectly healthy Senju." The elder brother crosses his arms.

Tobirama nods, closing his eyes. "We will pay our deepest respects. However, we were able to take out Uchiha Fugaku and Izuna. Without his son and brother, Madara is short two Head Generals. We took out a third of the clan; the Uchiha are weakened."

"It was the night of their Fire Festival," Hashirama's brows come together as he realizes what this must mean. "Tobirama, how could you have been able to tell warrior from civilian?"

The silence answers his question more loudly than spoken words. The clan may have left sentinels on the outskirts of the compound, but everyone else would have been in festival kimonos. Aside from the recognizable faces of Uchiha Madara and his Head Generals, both warriors and civilians would have looked the same.

"Anija, you have to recognize that what I did has benefitted the Senju."

Hashirama considers this. Despite Senju benefits, he objects to his brother's strategic reasoning, "Attacking a clan on a night of celebration. Killing both warriors and civilians in their homes. We, Senju, have much more respect for tradition than that. We must not lose ourselves to battle."

The man's red eyes shine as he scoffs, "There is no room for respect in a time of war."

His elder brother seems taken aback by his response, but after a second, his face falls into one of deep sorrow and understanding. Hashirama may have lived during a time without war, but his brother was born and raised by it. They are only seven years apart, but those seven years meant that Hashirama was taught to paint mountains by pressing a wet brush against a blank canvas while his younger brother was taught to defend those very mountains by sinking his katana into the heart of an Uchiha. When Senju Itama and Senju Kawarama had their breaths stolen by Uchiha blades, Tobirama had disappeared. Two days later, he had returned soaked in blood—none of it his own—and said only three words, "For my brothers."

Tobirama arches an eyebrow at his brother's burdened expression. He opens his mouth to question it, but the commander interrupts, "I am relieving you of your position."

He is not surprised. When he charged his men into Uchiha territory, when he slit the throats of Uchiha Izuna and Uchiha Fugaku, he knew that his intentions of bringing victory for the Senju would bring consequences from his clan's kind leader.

"My dear otouto, you are a great man," Hashirama says softly, placing a gentle hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "But you must also learn what it takes to be a good one."


	2. Part 1: The River

**Part 1: The River**

When Uzumaki Naruto of Senju is two months old, his mother peers at him as he dozes in his crib. Her eyebrows furrow and she chews on her lip, softly running a delicate finger over her firstborn's whiskered cheek. Uzumaki Mito stands on the other side of the crib, gazing fondly at her grandson.

"He was born with clear cheeks," Kushina explains to her mother. "But with each passing day, these marks become more prominent. At first I thought he scratched his face, but now I'm not exactly sure what is going on."

Mito appears to be in deep thought before finally responding, "It is said that the Uzumaki have a strong bond to the nine-tailed fox spirit of the forest. Some say it is because our ancestors once consumed a tail during the War of Spirits, and others say it was a result of a deep friendship many, many years ago. The spirit of the fox is passed down from parent to child. Typically, it is seen in the red of our hair."

Kushina touches her own fiery hair, eyebrows furrowing, "But Naruto is blonde."

"Exactly. I believe the spirit has simply found another way to reveal itself," she says. "Or, perhaps it is stronger in him."

"He should be fine," Minato pipes up as he enters the room and joins his wife's side. "He's a strong boy."

"Yes, he is," she agrees. She hopes.

* * *

True to his noble name, Uzumaki Naruto of Senju grows up to be a willful, intelligent boy. But intelligence is not easily contained. His curiosity brings the six-year-old to all corners of the Senju district, much to his mother's dismay. Scrolls and problem sets are ignored as the boy turns to explore the outside world. He skillfully weaves between the legs of training Senju soldiers, scales from tree to tree of the compound, and usually lands in the lap of his handsome grandfather, who shares stories of great battles and adventures.

On some days, much like this one, Naruto finds his way out of the Senju district through a small hole in a wall tucked behind a bush. He sprints down to the forest, picking up spare branches and pebbles along his way, and stops by the bubbling stream. He squats in the greenery, throwing in one pebble or stick at a time as he sings,

" _Hitotsu, hito yori inemuri, Shukaku_

 _Futatsu, faiyā moete-ru, Matatabi_

 _Mittsu, mizu nara makasero, Isobu_

 _Yottsu, yōgan atsui ze, Son Gokū_

 _Itsutsu, itsudemo kake-ashi, Kokuō_

 _Muttsu, muri sezu awatezu, Saiken_

 _Nanatsu, nanafushi sora tobu, Chōmei_

 _Yattsu, yappari "wī" da ze, Gyūki_

 _Kokonotsu, kokon to saikyō, Kurama_

 _Dōdō sorotta bijū no nakama_

 _Choi muzu da kedo ii namae_

 _Minna rippa-na namae da ne_

 _Minna suteki-na namae da ne."_

He hears a sudden rustle in the bushes behind him, and spins around to see a scarlet fox step out of the undergrowth, its nine tails billowing out around it. The stunning creature, fur rippling like tendrils of fire, continues his journey to the bank of the river until he spots the blonde boy out of the corner of his eye. Normally, he would continue walking, his spirit cloak concealing himself from the human eye. Yet, this blonde boy's blue gaze follows his every movement. When the fox spirit stops by the bank and returns the stare, the boy waves his hand at the creature. A blinding smile lights up his face and he says with full certainty, "Kurama."

Naruto turns his head to watch the ripples of the bubbling stream curl into themselves. He tosses a pebble into the ripple, disturbing the natural curves of the water. The fox spirit notices the three straight markings on the boy's cheek. He does not completely comprehend how the boy can see him or even know his name, though he feels an underlying kinship tying them together. Kurama is not too keen on humans, but he also knows that there are exceptions once every few centuries. Always an Uzumaki. Sometimes a Senju.

The boy flings a flat pebble into the stream, surprised when it skips against the water, curving upward into the air one last time before sinking. He tries again, throwing another pebble so it skirts against the water before falling. To his delight, the stone does as the boy wishes, and he laughs softly. Naruto continues skipping stones until his collection runs out. He straightens up when he is done, stretching with his arms reaching for the sun, and turns his head back to Kurama. However, this time, his eyes pass over the curious fox spirit. The boy scratches his head, mildly confused but does not think much of it. He turns and runs back to the Senju compound, little legs pumping and feet kicking up a trail of dust behind him.

Naruto crawls through the hole in the compound wall just as the Senju gates swing open. He joins his grandfather at the front of a crowd. On the other side of the gate stands a tall man with a shock of white hair and rose-colored eyes. The blonde looks on, curious, as the man walks into his grandfather's open arms.

Hashirama smiles into the embrace. "Welcome home, _otouto_."

* * *

Outside, Senju festivities for the return of Senju Tobirama begin. Music, dance, and sake are abundant. Inside, Tobirama stands with his arms at his side, eyes taking in the details of his old bedroom. He sees the wooden sword he had used as a child still leaning against the papery wall. He strides across the room, clothed feet making dull sounds against the tatami, and picks it up, blowing off the dust. Inspecting the wooden weapon, he sighs nostalgically, "Six years is a very long time."

By the entrance of the room, Hashirama nods agreeably, "It is."

"My travels have bestowed much upon me," Tobirama says. He shrugs out of his dirtied clothes and heads to his closet, picking out a clean kimono. The white fabric smells stale after six years of sitting in his room, untouched. "Not every land has war churning on its soil. Peace is hard to come by, but it is not complete until the war with the Uchiha has been settled."

The elder brother nods. He is glad his brother has been able to experience a life without war. However, there is a familiar spark in Tobirama's rosy eyes. He raises an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Tobirama raises his eyes from the ground to meet his brother's alert gaze, "During my travels, I have heard talk about Uchiha Danzo."

Hashirama closes his eyes and sighs. Even in a journey to escape war, it seems that his brother will always catch wisps of it in the breeze. He nods, "After the raid you led on the Uchiha, the clan had weakened significantly. Minato, Tsunade, and I were preparing negotiations with the Uchiha. We were close—peace was within our grasp. But before we could close our hands around it, Uchiha Danzo stepped up. And before I could blink, we were on the battlefield once again."

The younger brother bites back a retort. Negotiating with the Uchiha is like waving a slab of meat in front of a tiger. Sooner or later, the beast would realize the human behind the slab was larger and much more appetizing. Instead, he frowns, "At the edge of Fire Land's border, I came across a young man named Uzumaki Nagato. He's one of the heads of a group that calls themselves the Akatsuki. A bunch of war orphans searching for peace."

"What does this have to do with Danzo?" Hashirama asks. If he is surprised his brother became acquainted with an Uzumaki outside the compound, he does not show it.

"It doesn't really, but the group is trying to work towards peace. I'd say they're relatively useful as allies in the future. Nagato also talked of a few suspicions regarding the Shimura Clan. They could very well be rumors, though," Tobirama takes in a breath. "Apparently this clan has been unnaturally interested in the powers of the Uchiha. Tombs have been raided, warriors gone missing, eyes stolen. We should be careful."

"We're busy enough with the war as it is," the elder brother hums. "The Uchiha can fend for themselves."

Tobirama nods.

"Not to mention, the Shimura are a small clan," mutters Hashirama.

"Yes, but well-acquainted with medicinal practices. And hungry for power, as it seems," Tobirama replies.

Hashirama frowns, his eyebrows furrowing. His younger brother remembers the familiar crease in his brother's eyes when Hashirama is deep in thought. The information he gathered in his travels cannot be easy to digest. He feels a sharp pang in his chest as he watches his brother struggle internally. Being the leader of a warring clan has taken its toll on the man. New lines decorate his warm eyes, and a few white hairs dust his dark mane. In the past, Tobirama had hated his brother's seemingly naïve compassion. Now, he truly sees his humanity. He puts a hand on his brother's bicep, pulling the man out of his trance. "Anija, we can discuss this later. For now, we celebrate. I'm home."

Hashirama smiles at his brother, relieved for the moment, and heaves a defeated sigh. "Yes. Let's celebrate."

"I see that young Naruto has grown into quite the child," Tobirama arches an eyebrow mischievously. "I will give him my training bokken. I think it's time the boy meets his great-uncle."

* * *

The first time Naruto lays a hand on a weapon, he feels it is fate. His small fingers grip the worn handle of Tobirama's bokken, muscles straining as he strikes it against the wooden training post. The dull thud of wood on wood cannot compare to the rush of adrenaline roaring through the young boy's veins when he makes his first strike. Behind him, his great-uncle chuckles, his shoulders shaking as he says, "Good form. A natural warrior!"

Naruto steps back and strikes again. He tries for a few spins and twirls, dancing with his wooden sword as he had seen his grandfather's soldiers do when they trained. His heart sings with every prance. He lands another strike on the post, and turns his head to Tobirama, panting, "Ne, Tobirama-ojisama, how was that?"

The white-haired man smiles affectionately. Minato had mentioned that his son is not very fond of books, but it seems that the time spent exploring Senju grounds and observing training soldiers had not gone to waste. Tobirama reaches out to correct Naruto's form, and ruffles the boy's hair.

"Good," he says. "But until you can defeat me, not good enough."

The blonde boy pouts, the space between his golden eyebrows crinkling slightly. He thrusts his bokken straight into the air and puffs out his chest, declaring, "Just you wait, Tobirama-ojisama. I will be the best warrior the Senju will ever have!"

* * *

When the blonde Senju heir is not training with Tobirama, he takes his beloved bokken with him to the bubbling river in the woods. When Kushina asks him where he is running off to, he flashes her his best smile.

"Training," he says, pocketing the onigirihis mother had wrapped up for him in a bright orange cloth. "Tobirama-ojisama is teaching me a new technique today."

Which is true, to an extent. The onigiri in his pocket nearly falls out as he climbs through the hole in the Senju wall, heart pounding. He leaves the compound often enough for it to be a part of his daily schedule, but the adrenaline rush always remains the same. Excitement thrums in his chest with the knowledge that no one is to leave without permission. His father blames it on the war, but Naruto has never seen war. He hops on his bare feet outside the safety of his walls, oblivious to the blood being spilled miles away.

By the river, he rehearses the moves that his great-uncle imparted onto him. With each spin, he comes closer and closer to perfecting the deadly dance of combat.

Naruto revels in the feeling of the soft grass flicking between his toes with each step. He slides forward, wooden sword in hand, about to thrust it forward into the air in a finishing blow when suddenly he feels a sharp, focused pain in the back of his head. He spins abruptly, offsetting his balance, and lands softly with his bum on the river-softened ground. The boy squints in pain, but looks up fast enough to see a small, pale foot disappear into the trees. Beside his leg, a round pebble lands with a muffled thud. He reaches over and picks up the rock, feeling its smoothness. No ridges, no cracks. How peculiar. Curious, the boy jumps to his feet and runs into the trees, his bokken in one hand, the pebble in the other.

With each step deeper into the woods, the ground becomes increasingly unsteady underfoot. Roots and brambles twist into one another, creating small crevices and bumps perfect for tripping a running child. Naruto dodges each obstacle adeptly, but it seems that whoever he is chasing is even more skilled at navigating the woven forest floor. His heart pounds in his chest as he pushes himself forward. If there is one thing going for him, it is his endless supply of stamina. The footsteps ahead eventually slow down, one step at a time. He can hear himself closing in—can hear the panting just on the other side of the trees—and sees a figure come into view.

He barely has any time to register the figure before him—only just noting that they are about the same height—before throwing himself at it. The other child makes a surprised sound when Naruto's lunge throws the two off their feet. The blonde boy drops his bokken as they land in the leafy undergrowth, a fallen branch digging into his side.

Naruto grunts in pain as a fist meets his left shoulder, hard. He reels his head back and rams it into the forehead of his opponent. Using the momentum, he throws his weight forward so that he is sitting on the other's abdomen with his elbows and knees holding his opponent down. He lifts his golden head, chest heaving with exertion, and takes his first glance at the other's face.

At first, Naruto thinks he is looking at the evening sky. He loses himself in the depth of the night and in the splash of stars. But as the boy beneath him frowns and struggles against his hold, Naruto is thrown back into the present. He looks at the face just a few centimeters from his own, taking in the creases between delicate eyebrows and the downward curve of thin lips.

"Let go of me," the other boy speaks, his voice high with youth and slightly nasally. He struggles again, but the Senju heir is strong.

"You threw a rock at my head," Naruto huffs. He watches as the other boy's cheeks flush a light shade of red as he holds out the pebble.

The boy turns his head to the side, his dark hair twisting in the forest dirt. "I was practicing."

"So was I, but I wasn't throwing anything at anyone," the blonde boy points out. He releases the other boy and gets up, shaking off the dirt on his grey yukata. As he pats at his clothing, he notices the emptiness of his pockets. The dark-haired boy sits up and sees a triangle-shaped package wrapped in a bright orange cloth. He picks it up and pulls open the cloth wrap with nimble fingers.

"What is this?" The boy stares inquisitively at the triangular rice ball.

Naruto looks at him, incredulous. He snatches his snack from the other boy and holds it close to his chest, " _Oi_ , that's mine."

"What is it?" The boy repeats, still sitting on the ground, cross-legged and curious.

"Onigiri. My mother made it," the blonde boy holds the rice ball in front of his mouth, about to chomp down.

At that exact moment, the dark-haired boy's stomach releases a squeal of hunger. He holds his hands over his abdomen, embarrassed, but he stubbornly looks away. Naruto pauses. He stands motionless for a long moment, before sighing and holding out his snack before the other boy. "Here."

"You said it was yours," says the boy.

Naruto plops himself on the ground, still holding out the onigiri. "You can have it."

The other boy takes the rice ball hesitantly and slowly takes a bite. As he chews, his face lights up and shines as bright as the sun on a summer's day.

Naruto pockets the pebble that struck his head earlier, and retrieves his bokken, which had fallen a few feet away during the scuffle. He turns his face to the ginger sky above, lips pressed together as he notes the setting sun, and huffs, "I have to be home before sundown."

"Home," Sasuke mumbles, as if in thought.

Naruto looks at him in confusion, but his own stomach rumbles loudly in hunger and he takes off, kicking up twigs and leaves in his wake. He follows the sounds of bubbling water back to the river, and from the river, back to the hole in the Senju compound wall just before the sun gives its last peek over the mountains. When he returns home, Kushina takes one look at his dirtied attire and smacks him over the head, "What happened to you?"

"I, uh, fell." Naruto sheepishly rubs his head as his mother ushers him into the bath.

Moments later, on his cushioned futon, he is just about to drift off into sleep when his door slides open and his mother pokes her head in. "Naruto, do you have that orange handkerchief for the onigiri from this morning?"

Naruto's heart accelerates briefly when he realizes he had left it with the forest boy. He frowns, "I must have lost it. I'm sorry, kaachan."

Kushina smiles, "That's fine. Just try not to lose it again, alright?"

The blonde boy nods eagerly, and right before his mother slips away, he pipes up, "Kaachan, can you make two onigiri for me tomorrow? Please?"

"Yes, love," Kushina gives a sweet laugh before quietly sliding the door shut.

Alone in the darkness of his bedroom, Naruto turns to his stomach and reaches under his pillow. His fingers close around a pebble, and he strokes his thumb over its smoothness until he drifts off into sleep.

* * *

Minato ruffles his son's golden hair three days later at the end of their training. "You're a good fighter, Naruto. But a good warrior must read as well."

Naruto retaliates in grumbling protests, dodging his father's hand and folding his arms. His frown is almost comical as he turns to the broad-shouldered man behind Minato. "Can't be _that_ important. Ne, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Minato sighs after yet another failed attempt to increase his son's literacy, but Jiraiya only chuckles, the red lines tattooed on his face curving with his smile. "Not every book is boring, you see. Here, read this one! You were named after the character in this book."

Naruto's hands are suddenly grasping a small, tattered orange book. _Tales of a Gutsy Ninja_.

"Just five pages, alright? If you don't like it then, you don't have to finish it," says Minato.

Naruto nods, taking in the small novel. His namesake. He runs over to the corner of the training arena, and picks up his pack, holding two onigiri and a water flask, that he had deposited before training. He had been asking his mother for two onigiri each day just in case he found the time to sneak out to the river again. Today seems to be the day. He throws the pack over his shoulders and waves at his father and senseias he leaves, "I'm off!"

Letting out a deep breath, Minato angles his head in Jiraiya's direction as he ponders. "Where do you think he goes when he runs off like that?"

"Who knows?" the white-haired man shrugs. Then, at seeing his former student's worried expression, he adds, "He's full of life. Let the boy enjoy what time he has left."

The two men sigh under the familiar weight of their mutual understanding. With Naruto's training progress, it isn't long before the boy must forego his carefree life in exchange for one on the battlefield. Tobirama has already commissioned for the blacksmith to wield him his very own blade despite how hesitant Hashirama had been.

* * *

On the other side of the compound, Naruto races towards the wall with the hole, waving to each occasional cousin or friend he passes. Most people are busy training and studying during the afternoons. Uzumaki Karin of Senju barely looks up from her scrolls as Naruto calls out a quick greeting. Despite being only two years older than the boy, she has already begun her focused studies in the art of healing and spends most of her days in the Senju Infirmary, with her head in a stack of scrolls and books. Today, she has with her a younger girl around Naruto's age. Haruno Sakura of Senju, who has joined the clan not by birth or marriage, but by recent negotiations carried through by Hashirama himself. If the Senju were to gain an advantage in this war, it would be through alliances. _Something the Uchiha are too proud to ever consider_ , his grandfather had said. As a result, the Senju have expanded greatly as they adopted smaller families and clans. Naruto smiles at his cousin and friend, who both glance up and briefly wave before diving back into their studies.

When he reaches the bush hiding his entrance to the outside world, Naruto quickly glances around. Finding no one behind him, he dives into the undergrowth and crawls his way out of the compound. He makes his way down to the river with ease and plops down in a patch of soft grass. The water flows slower here, and the soft bubbling sounds tap softly against his eardrums. It's a hot summer day, but the light breeze does wonders. His bokken lies by his leg as he pulls out his food and orange book and turns to the first page. Then the second, third, fourth, and soon he is halfway through the novel, engrossed in a story about a heroic shinobi named Naruto.

A stone zips by his head suddenly and lands on the water, jumping twice before sinking. Shaken out of the story, he whirls around, dropping his book. It bounces onto the tip of his bokken, flipping the heavier hilt up with enough force to fling the wooden sword into the river. He has barely even registered the surprised look on the forest boy's face before he dives after his beloved weapon.

The cool water envelopes his body as his arms clumsily close around his bokken. He grips onto it, thrashing and kicking, and realizes too late that he does not know how to swim. He throws his head above the surface, but takes a breath just as he sinks back in and swallows only water. His wet yukata is heavy as it clings onto his frame. His wooden sword isn't enough to float his heavier body, and he takes in gulp after gulp of water, lungs searing with pain, arms and legs thrashing feebly. Then something is pulling at the collar of his yukata, pulling him up, up, up until his face breaks through the surface of the water. He hugs his sword to his chest as he is unceremoniously dragged to the riverbank and thrown down.

A hand slams itself into his back, and he coughs the river from his lungs. He braces himself on his forearms as he hacks up one mouthful of water after another, one hand clutching his bokken and the other grabbing at the mud beneath him. When his lungs are empty of everything but air, he angrily flips over and swings a handful of muck at the boy. Naruto watches with satisfaction as the mud lands squarely on the side of the boy's face.

"What was that for?" The boy yells and swipes the dirt off his face with an arm. He shakes his head, grimacing as he tries to dislodge what had gotten into his ear.

" _What was that for_?" Naruto mimics. " _Teme_ , stop throwing rocks at my—guh!"

A slab of mud lands right in his open mouth. Wet and bitter. Naruto spits out what he can and flings another handful of the sludge at the forest boy.

"I just saved your life, _usuratonkachi_!" The boy doesn't even attempt to wipe off the mud that lands in his hair. He bends over to grabs two heaving handfuls of the stuff and chucks them at the blonde. "Appreciate it!"

"No!" Naruto throws two more handfuls at his opponent, "It's your fault I almost died in the first place!"

"I was just skipping stones!" Another toss.

Two more. "Well skip them somewhere else!"

"Your fault you can't swim!" Three in quick recession.

"Your fault my bokken fell in!" A kick. Seeing that it threw the mud into the boy's neck, he follows with two more.

"Your fault you're a scaredy-cat!" He's kicking too now.

"I am not a scaredy-cat, you weird rock-obsessed teme!" Two throws, one kick.

" _Usuratonkachi_!"

" _Teme_!"

And then suddenly both are bent over, temporarily blinded by mud. Naruto, fuming with anger, blindly barrels his head forward into the other boy's middle and throws them both into the shallower water at the edge of the river. The boy knees him in the groin and Naruto punches his shoulder as they roll in the water, effectively rinsing off some of the filth. The two punch and kick until the sun begins to fall. Seeing this, Naruto quickly says, "Sun's going down. Gotta go, but it's not over!"

He head-butts the boy one last time—smirks at the grunt—before running to his belongings. He sticks the book in his pack and holds the two onigiri, hesitating. Then he turns to the boy, who is standing by the river, as drenched in mud and water as he is. He jogs down to him and unwraps one of the onigiri, pressing it into the other boy's hands.

"Kaachan wants the cloth back," he explains, and begins to run back to the Senju compound.

"Hey," the other boy calls. Naruto turns around to look at him. "I'm Sasuke."

He smiles, "Naruto."

* * *

Under Tsunade's watchful eye, Sakura dabs at the scrapes along Naruto's skin with boiled cloth and alcohol. He winces dramatically, scrunching his face up. "Ouch!"

She glares at him and dabs harder.

Kushina eyes the bruises adorning her son's face and arms. She lightly runs the tips of her fingers over them. "I really ought to tell Tobirama to tone down the training."

"It's odd, though, since the others aren't coming in with nearly as many injuries." Tsunade frowns at Sakura's rough scrubbing, but doesn't comment. She presses on the red bump on Naruto's forehead, pulling her hand away when he shrinks back. Definitely swollen. "I doubt this is a part of training."

"I'm just clumsy!" He exclaims.

"And muddy. And wet," Kushina says. "Where did you go to get wet?"

Naruto clamps his mouth shut and watches Sakura rub ointment into his scrapes. He sighs at the coolness of the medicine, and leans into the cold press that Tsunade places against his forehead.

"Uzumaki Naruto of Senju." Kushina's eyes bear a frightening spark.

"Alright, alright," he whines, presenting his best pout. "Kiba and I did some extra training today. We wrestled and stuff. Okay?"

Tsunade plucks a small, dry twig from Naruto's mess of hair just as Kushina leads him out of the infirmary. She brings it to her face for closer inspection. Smells it once, then again for good measure. It doesn't belong to any of the trees in the compound.

* * *

With each coming day, Naruto gets busier and busier. Tobirama adds new routines to his training sessions. Jiraiya presses more books into his hands, each one telling a new tale of bravery and honor. His father leaves for weeks at a time now and returns from the front lines exhausted. In his father's absences, he sometimes catches his mother staring off into the distance, wringing her hands until they turn bright red.

One training session soon turns into two, then three. He returns home sore, exhausted. But twice a week, he finds time to escape the compound and wind his way down to the bubbling river where his troubles flow away with the water and Sasuke.

When he had returned home the other night, his mother took one glance at his black eye and filth, and gave him a thorough scolding. Since then, he mindfully avoids muddy spars with the other boy, but their fighting hasn't ended there. Small scuffles soon turn into an ongoing rivalry, and underneath that, an unspoken bond of friendship. During the day, they fight over the smallest things—the furthest rock-skipper, the highest jumper, the best artist, the swiftest runner. And after Sasuke teaches Naruto how to swim, the fastest swimmer.

When they finally run out of ideas in which to compete, Sasuke takes Naruto to his small makeshift arena, where he practices his aim by throwing rocks at various targets he had set up. Sasuke squeezes sap from bush leaves and draws targets on the tree trunks. Naruto finds a terribly drawn sketch of him on one of the target trees and howls, "I don't look like that!"

"Yes, you do," replies the other boy as he throws a rock straight at tree-Naruto's forehead, much to the other boy's comical dismay.

The blonde boy squeezes a few leaves for himself and hastily draws a lopsided Sasuke on the tree next to his own image. He tosses handfuls of rocks at it, but finds that his aim is terrible. He opts for showing off a few of his moves with his bokken.

At one point, Naruto makes out a bright red tail occasionally peeping out from a bush a few yards away. He waves at it, "Yo, Kurama!"

The fox spirit raises his head and prances over to the clearing. _**Who are you?**_

Sasuke comes over, eyebrows raised in confusion. "You know Kurama?"

"I do," Naruto exclaims, pointing to his own whiskered cheeks. "But you him, too?"

The dark-haired boy resists the urge to throw another rock at Naruto's head as he hops onto a billowing tail. "'Course, he's family."

It starts to click in Naruto's head as he watches his friend with the forest spirit. Sasuke, who was always in the forest. Sasuke, who never had onigiri. Sasuke, who never spoke of his parents or family. Sasuke, who was truly from the forest.

 _ **Who are you?**_ Kurama asks again, irritated.

"Naruto," he replies, wary of leaving in his clan name. Hashirama is adamant that he never give it out, despite the fact that as far as the clan leader knew, Naruto has never stepped foot outside the compound.

Narrowing his eyes, Kurama sniffs the blonde child. He remembers him from a brief meeting by the river a few months ago. The whiskered boy who sang the song of the spirits. He feels a deep, warm tug towards a boy. _**This human is not so bad.**_

Sasuke pounces off the spirit's tail and resumes flinging stones at tree-Naruto's head with trained accuracy. Seeing this, Naruto yells out a protest and runs back to strike his bokken at tree-Sasuke. Son Gokū drops from a branch and lands next to Kurama, a deep rumble vibrating in his chest as he chuckles. _**You've gone soft, Kurama.**_

 _ **Shut up.**_

The sun always makes its way down the sky, and Naruto, like always, stops arguing or punching or rock-throwing or hacking his bokken into tree-Sasuke's face to press an onigiri into Sasuke's hands before heading home.

"But ramen tastes better," he adds.

* * *

The silk of Sasuke's _yukata_ is soft between his fingers. Grey and delicate. Sometimes, Sasuke looks like a painting to him—blacks and whites and all the shades in between.

"So," he says, pulling on the sleeve. "Why don't you run around naked?"

The sleeve is yanked from his grasp, and he looks up to find dark hair framing flushed cheeks. "What?"

 _Like a painting with a splash of rose._

"I mean," He reaches for the sleeve again, entranced. The silk glimmers in the sunlight like silver. "You're from the forest."

Sasuke pulls the sleeve from his fingers again and rolls his eyes. "I'm from the forest, but I'm not wild."

"That made no sense," he says, frowning as he tries to piece together the sentence.

"Think a little harder and your brain might melt." A blonde head is lightly swatted at. " _Usuratonkachi_."

"Oi!" Naruto holds his head, pouting. " _Teme_!"

"Chōmei makes them for me," Sasuke says, admiring his own _yukata_. "Or I get cold."

"But what about when you get too warm?" Naruto laughs and Sasuke turns his head away in embarrassment, ears bright red.

"Oi, oi," he leans forward, almost cackling. "Did you know your ears get red when—ow! Sasuke!"

* * *

"My books are going missing," Jiraiya says, scratching at his white mane as he shuffles through his bookshelf. "I'm glad I got Naruto to read, but damn—he's moving my entire library!"

Minato chuckles, "He swiped a few of my empty scrolls and brushes as well."

"Is he writing?" The older man spins around in excitement, eyebrows raised.

"Well, I've definitely seen a few scribbles the last time I peeked—"

"Not his writing, though," Kushina pipes up from the other end of the library. She doesn't pull her gaze from the section on the great clans as she runs her fingers over the worn titles. "Too neat. Too basic—just _hiragana_ and a bit of _kanji_ , from what I've seen."

"That's odd," Jiraiya frowns. "Perhaps he's teaching someone."

"Maybe that Haruno girl?"

"Sakura reads as well as we do," Tsunade interrupts from the corner, where she sits with a book in her lap. "Probably better than you, Jiraiya."

He ignores that comment. "Or that Inuzuka boy?"

"Perhaps," Minato hums.

* * *

The trees inside the Senju compound are predictable, friendly. Naruto had been hopping around on their branches since he could run. The trees in the forest, however, are erratic—the wilderness guiding each growth and extension. The one before him is a complete stranger.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asks, looking from the tree to Naruto. "I've done this all my life."

He huffs a shallow laugh. Fear pricks at the tips of his fingers, but he puffs out his chest. "Good, because so have I."

The bark is rough against his hands as he hauls himself onto the first branch, Sasuke close behind. Untrimmed branches and leaves scrape against his neck with each movement. He breathes deeply for a moment before swinging over to a higher branch. Higher, higher, higher. The earth quickly fades away from his reality until there is only the sun with open arms.

 _Embrace me._

He reaches for the next branch in earnest, but his eyes are full of sky and sun and he does not comprehend the small width his fingers close around. The branch snaps under his weight and he flies, but not to the sun.

 _No_ —

A warm hand wraps around his ankle, so tightly it almost hurts. The world turns upside down as he swings from where Sasuke has caught him. His ragged breaths shake his lungs, his heart threatening to break his chest. He had never fallen before.

"All your life, huh?"

"Sasuke, pull me up."

The boy grunts under his weight. "Wait—wait, hold on—"

"Just pull me up, pull—"

"Hey, I got you." His stomach comes in contact with a branch and he wraps his limbs around it, reveling in its solidity. Sasuke finally releases his ankle, leaning back to breathe, "I had you."

Naruto looks into the darkness of Sasuke's eyes, finding warmth and—he squints—a haughty gleam. "Oi, _teme_ , are you laughing at me?"

"But— _usuratonkachi_ —all your life?"

"Oi!"

He tries to leap up, but slips and instead settles for a delicate seat on the branch. His legs swing carefully above the patch of dirt he almost broke his neck on. "Thank you."

Sasuke smiles, face turned to the sun. The light spins in his eyes and for a second, all Naruto sees is fire.


	3. Part 2: The Wind

**Part 2: The Wind**

On Naruto's tenth birthday, the Senju clan throws a massive festival. In a time of war, ten means receiving his very own katana, forged in the mountains. Steel folded into itself a thousand times and enforced by the spirits and prayers. Made for the Senju heir and believed to cut through anything with sheer will. The festival celebrates this, but also works well to hide the fact that Naruto will soon be entering the front lines, drenching his heart in Uchiha blood.

Draped in an ebony silk haori, Naruto sits on his knees in front of the Uzumaki House of Senju, his head low but ears alert as he listens to the clan members gathered at the event. Before him, Hashirama, clad in a white kimono, stands grasping the ends of the new katana. He raises it into the air, "I, Senju Hashirama, head of the Senju clan, hereby present to Uzumaki Naruto of Senju his very own katana _,_ forged in the high mountains of the Fire country. This event marks the makings of a new Senju warrior. Uzumaki Naruto of Senju will train with his katana over the next few moons, and when he is ready, will enter our ranks as a noble warrior."

Hashirama lowers the sheathed sword into his grandson's waiting hands. Naruto accepts the heavy blade and says, "I am honored to serve and protect the Senju clan as a faithful warrior in search of peace."

The crowd cheers in support of this beloved boy, and Naruto stands, legs slightly sore from kneeling, and smiles at his proud parents as he tucks the katana into his belt. He breaks the formality of the event with a loud "hey!" and waves excitedly at the friends he's made over the past few years—Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Tenten, many of whom have already received their katana if they had trained to be warriors. He laughs as he runs over to them, jumping on his feet in exhilaration.

"Can we see? Can we see?" Kiba shoves forward, nodding at his friend's new sword. Naruto is all smiles as he reaches to his side and pulls the blade from its scabbard. Not all the way, but enough for it to shine its beautiful edge into the eyes of its admirers. The Uzumaki and Senju symbols are etched into the hilt in gold.

"Nice, Naruto-san!" Lee claps a hand on Naruto's back. "Very nice!"

"Thanks, Lee," the blonde smiles, then upon seeing the dango in Chouji's hand, feels himself salivate a bit. "I'm hungry. Ne, Chouji, don't you still owe me food?"

Chouji sputters, spit flying as he tries to deny it. A few laughs resound around the small group, and everyone makes their way through the festival, playing games and picking up bites to eat until the night passes and it's time to get cleaned up.

* * *

Sneaking out of the Senju compound with a heavy, clunking katana is much more difficult than Naruto had anticipated. Careful not to let the polished wooden scabbard drag across the dirt, he crawls through the bush in front of the wall's hole hold on three limbs as his hand holds his new blade well above the ground. The two bento boxes—leftovers from last night's festival—and a water flask dig into his back, but sit firmly in his pack. It's a bit heavier than usual, since he stuffed in something else for Sasuke. A surprise.

Having grown quite a bit since he was six years old, he has a harder time getting through the small hole. He's already chipped some of the edges away with larger rocks, but he is growing faster than he is chipping. With a huff, he lightly tosses his pack and sword through the hole before climbing through on his elbows.

By the river, Naruto strips off his shoes and sets aside his pack. He is earlier than usual, so he decides to take his blade for a spin. His morning training had not gone as well as he had anticipated.

"It takes practice, Naruto," his father had told him, patient as ever. "It's not a sword—it's you. Feel it. Learn to dance with it."

He had huffed in frustration as Minato ruffled his hair.

Now he raises the sword with his right hand and steadies his position. The katana's blade glistens in the sunlight. _Inhale. Exhale_. He raises the sword. Steps forward. Swings. The sword sits contently in his hands, heavy, but powerful. He raises it again, spins, and slashes. A faint ring licks at his ears as his katana cuts through the air around him. The new weight throws him off-balance a few times and he sways. Remembering his father's words, he tries his best to dance with this new part of him. Sweat gathers at his brow after half an hour. His arms drop to his side and he turns his face into the sun, closing his eyes. His chest heaves as he gulps in breath after breath of the crisp autumn air.

A rock hits him behind his ear.

"Ow," he frowns, turning to see his smirking friend standing a good twelve feet away. " _Oi_ , Sasuke- _teme_ , if I lose an eye, I swear I'll—"

"What's that?" Sasuke nods at the sword in Naruto's hand. He finds that the bokken is nowhere to be seen.

"My new katana!" Naruto forgets the tiny sting behind his ear in favor of waving his new sword at Sasuke, who runs over in curiosity. He hesitantly presses the hilt into the other boy's hands and watches him take in the sword.

"It's beautiful," Sasuke says, eyes wide in awe. He notices Naruto's wavering hands and watchful gaze, and quickly hands back the blade.

"Yeah," he agrees. "Soon I'll be able to fight to protect my clan."

Sasuke hums, but seems to be deep in thought. Naruto takes this chance to grab his pack. "Let's do target practice today! I want to try out my katana on a real tree. I bet I can take out tree-you faster than you can take out tree-me."

"Obviously, if I'm throwing rocks when you've got _that_."

Naruto is already heading off in the direction of the makeshift arena, his pack swung over his shoulder and his sheathed sword dangling at his side. "Nah, I got you something."

Sasuke runs after him.

In the clearing, the two boys sit across one another as Naruto removes the items from his pack. He sets down the bento boxes and his water flask, from which Sasuke takes a generous gulp. He's done it so many times that the blonde had stopped complaining after a month. Then Naruto sets down a small package wrapped in a tattered cloth. The messy bundle clinks softly as the blonde pushes it towards his friend. "I finally got access to the Weapon House and swiped a few of 'em. They probably work better than the rocks we've been using."

Naruto watches as Sasuke carefully unwraps the cloth to reveal a dozen throwing stars. He reaches over to pick one up, "They're called shuriken. You hold it like this."

He carefully fits the star between two fingers, and nods when Sasuke imitates him perfectly. The dark-haired boy throws one at the target to his side, and watches in amazement when the sharp point digs itself into the tree trunk. A little off-center, but still within the circle. Sasuke lets out a small laugh, "I guess I shouldn't be throwing stuff at your head anymore."

"You better not!" He chucks a twig at Sasuke, only to pout when it falls short and lands on the pile of shuriken instead. "Who'll bring you onigiri then?"

Sasuke blows a raspberry at the blonde, who grabs two shuriken and jumps over to tree-Sasuke. "Bet I can hit tree-you in the face more!"

"Bet you can't!" And then the two boys, with only a handful of throwing stars to share, begin their match of the day. Throw. Throw. Throw. Throw. Then they stop, taking in one another's handiwork, before racing to the tree to retrieve their shuriken for another round.

After their thirteenth round, Naruto flops onto the ground with a thud, chest heaving. He hated losing to Sasuke. There was something in the way his friend was able to take one glance at a target and lodge a star into its center. Sasuke watches him breathe in a few stray specks of dirt and grass, and settles down next to him. For a moment, they say nothing, do nothing but breathe. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. The sun begins to make its descent from the sky.

"Why do you fight?"

Naruto turns his head to appraise his friend, "What?"

"You talk about fighting and going to the front lines and all, but why?" Sasuke has his arms out to his side, fingers splayed toward the sky.

"For my clan." Of course. His mantra. He's wanted to be a noble Senju warrior for as long as he can remember.

"Against what?"

"The enemy."

This time, Sasuke turns to watch the blonde boy. He catches his look of determination, the way his eyebrows come together and his mouth tightens. Then he says, "You fight the enemy clan, and the enemy clan fights you. But what do you fight _for_?"

Naruto grits his teeth, "For my clan, like I _just said_."

"Why don't you both just stop fighting? End it all?"

Naruto turns to watch the clouds drift lazily above him. For a moment, he feels incredibly small and insignificant. He doesn't have an answer. "Because. Just because."

A pause. Then, "Can't you stay?"

"What?"

Naruto watches him swallow and avoid his gaze. "After the sun sets. Can't you stay today?"

"I have to go home."

It always hurts to see Sasuke's face fall.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Kushina presses. His face is brave, but when she looks up into the blue of her husband's eyes, she can see the quiet fear spinning there. She holds a hand to his cheek. "Oh, Minato, are you sure?"

"Not at all," he breathes. "But—if Danzo's letter is genuine—this could mean the end of it all. Think about it—Naruto could grow up painting and laughing and writing and learning about everything else—he wouldn't have to fight. He could just be a boy, Kushina. Wouldn't that be nice?"

It is everything Kushina wishes for. She smiles, but it hurts. Hashirama had seemed hopeful during the meeting in the Commandant Room upon reception of Danzo's letter, but Tobirama had thrown tables across the room in his rage. Everyone had sat with their jaws clenched tight, watching spilled tea flow across and sink into the _tatami_.

 _It's no peace negotiation_ , he spat _. The man has no honor. It's a trap._

 _I'll go._

Heads had snapped to the blonde general. Murmurs rose, but it had been settled. Namikaze Minato of Senju would go to the Uchiha compound in place of Senju Hashirama. They reckoned he was important enough, but not that important.

Tobirama had broken down the door before his brother could adjourn the meeting.

* * *

Two blades come together in a deafening chime, and the impact sends tremors down his arms and straight to his heart. He pants, adrenaline running through his blood as he raises his katana and dives to the side as he swings, remembering to lighten his blow. Blade meets armor in a dull clunk and he steps back, smiling through the sweat gliding down his face.

"Nice move," Tobirama says, straightening up and placing a hand on his hip. His blue armor clinks with his movement. "You've adjusted to the weight of your katana very well."

"Well enough to join you and touchan tomorrow?" He desperately longs to protect his people on the frontline. To prove that all his mornings and afternoons of sweat and tears had been worth it. "I've been training forever."

Tobirama smiles, closing his eyes. "Perhaps."

"But Tobirama-ojisama, I'm _thirteen_. I'm a good swordsman." No matter how hard he trains or how many times he begs, he is always met with the same answer. Kiba and Lee are the same age as him, but they have already left to the front lines. Shino and Tenten have gone three times and back on various rotations. Even Sakura went once. To the _real_ battlefield, where the war takes place, not the little camps Naruto is assigned to deliver supplies to. It isn't his favorite job, but Naruto leads his delivery team well. Protects his supplies well. Delivers more quickly than anyone. But it isn't the same as being _in_ the war. He suspects his overprotective grandfather has something to do with this.

When the sun's rays barely peek over the horizon the next day, Minato places a hand on his son's blonde head and presses a warm kiss into his forehead. The frosty air bites at his whiskered cheeks.

 _New winter, same war_ , Sasuke had commented a few days ago when Naruto bragged about how this time, the _eighth_ time he had begged, might be the time Tobirama would let him go to the front lines. It wasn't meant for the blonde to hear, but he had anyways and roared at Sasuke the same speech about honor and protecting his clan. Roared until his throat ran dry, but the other boy just gazed at him nonchalantly. _New winter, same speech_. Then Naruto launched himself at him, but Sasuke knew how to throw a few good punches. His mother was not impressed with the new bruises that later adorned his jaw.

"Be good, Naruto," Minato says, just as he always does when he leaves. "Maybe—when I return—it'll all be over. The war will be done, yeah?"

Naruto scrunches up his face. "I guess. But—wait—why can't I come with you?"

Minato only tilts his head as his eyes curve into crescents with his smile. Upon hearing his name being called, he gives his son one more hug, awkwardly pressing the boy's body to his armor. "My unit is waiting. Hey, I'm proud of you, Naruto."

Kushina pulls her husband in, "Be careful."

"Always am." He kisses her cheek, tucks a fiery strand of hair behind her ear. Naruto turns away in mock disgust. "I'll be quick."

Naruto and his mother, now used to Minato's common departures, no longer watch him until he disappears into the trees. They wave and wave until the general, tripping on a twig as he tries to walk backwards in his goodbyes, turns and does not look back.

* * *

Two days go by quickly. Training, reading, more training, and more training. No time to leave the compound. He awakens one morning to his mother loudly stomping around his bedroom. He scrunches up his face, and tries to burrow deeper into his blankets. Tries, and fails as Kushina rips away his comfort in one expert swipe.

"Rise and shine!"

He groans, "But _kaachan_ , I don't have morning training today."

Kushina laughs, "Oh no, no. I'm training you today! Today you will be helping me with housework! It's what every good warrior must learn. Your father will appreciate coming home to a nice, squeaky clean house. So up, up, up!"

Naruto is only half awake when he finishes his breakfast and his mother stuffs a bucket and rags into his arms with instructions to clean the floors. So he sets to filling the bucket with water and wiping the _tatami_ with damp cloths. When that is finished, his mother pushes him to laundry, so he sits scrubbing his clothes in the bathtub. He falls off the stool twice when he hangs everything up on the clothesline in the courtyard. Then Kushina tries, for the fifth time, to teach him to make his own onigiri. But he burns the rice again and overstuffs the centers with cod. His warrior hands try feebly to mold the delicate onigiri into a triangular shape, but he only succeeds in making an odd ball of mush. Grumbling the entire time, he hastily wraps the two in individual cloths. Kushina, taking pity on him, giggles as she hands her son some dango, wrapped in leaves. He stuffs everything into his pack and races out the door with his katana.

When his father and great-uncle are out, Naruto trains under Jiraiya. The older warrior currently has him sparring with Shikamaru, an excellent, witty opponent. Naruto tries to come at him from the side, katana raised, but Shikamaru counters with a spin and kick to the gut. His boot meets Naruto's armor with a dull sound. The blonde steps back, but immediately propels himself forward and throws a punch straight at Shikamaru's face. His partner dodges the hit easily, stepping to the side and taking the momentum to swing himself at Naruto. But Naruto is expecting this. He kicks his foot out just as Shikamaru is trying move, smiling at the sound Shikamaru makes when he lands on his back, and holds his blade's tip to the other's chest. Two seconds.

Then he extends a hand to Shikamaru, who takes it and heaves himself up. "Man, that was great! How are you not on the front lines yet? We could use some of you up there."

"I've been begging for years, Nara, _years_." Naruto looks up in anticipation of Jiraiya's feedback and sees him standing with Tobirama. He runs over, "Did you see that? Tobirama-ojisama, am I ready _now_?"

Tobirama appraises him quietly. Naruto notes the way his shoulders sag and how the shadows under his eyes seem to pull everything down with it. But Naruto's mind blanks to this when his great-uncle finally nods. "Yes, you may leave with the next round in two weeks. Under Jiraiya's command."

Overcome with joy, Naruto hollers, raising his arms in victory. " _Yes_! Yes! I have to go tell tousan. I've waited forever! Ojisama, I really hope you didn't tell him before telling me since it's supposed to be a surprise—"

"Naruto," Tobirama interrupts. "I'm sorry."

"Ugh, but that's okay! I'll tell him anyway, and we all know kaachan won't be too happy—"

"Naruto," Tobirama presses again. The boy looks at Jiraiya, but does not find his smile returned. He shuts himself up. This time, he sees, really sees, the toll that the past few days had taken on him. For the first time in Naruto's life, he watches his great-uncle hesitate. Open his mouth, close it. There's nothing but silence for five minutes. Then he draws a shaky breath and says in a voice so broken and quiet that Naruto almost does not hear him.

But Naruto, after his initial excitement dies down, realizes in the same moment as Tobirama's words leave his tongue that he isn't supposed to leave for the war anymore—ever.

 _The war will be done, yeah?_

"Your father is dead."

Naruto stands perfectly still, eyes gazing at nothing as he tries to comprehend what he had just heard. He tells himself to breathe.

"There was an ambush. He was killed. I didn't make it to him in time. I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm so, so sorry."

He shakes his head, "No, no. You see, he's supposed to see me become commander. He's supposed to be proud of me when I become a true Senju warrior. He told me the war was going to end."

Tobirama looks at him with all the sorrow in the world.

He drops his katana as the world slams down on him. The sharp ring of the blade against stone breaks his momentary trance, and he runs. He doesn't hear Tobirama or Jiraiya call his name. Just runs and runs and runs until the burning in his chest threatens to set his heart on fire.

 _Breathe_. But he can't and he trips on uneven ground and falls, bracing his forearms against the dirt. He curls into himself, swallowing gulp after gulp of air. His lungs tighten in pain. Air goes in and out of him, but he can't _breathe_. He numbly feels someone pulling at him, "Naruto?"

His body aches and he claws at the ground, fingers digging into the dirt beneath him. But whoever it is above him keeps pulling at his hands until they cling onto cloth. He vaguely registers the familiar sounds of a bubbling river. A voice deep and not as nasally as it once had been. "Hey, hey."

The pain resonates so deeply in his body that he cannot speak, only ache. Arms awkwardly come around him and he falls into the warmth as he turns his face to Sasuke's chest and wails. He cries until his head throbs with each breath. The piercing agony in his chest has lulled to a dull throb. Sasuke rubs his back and strokes down his hair but says nothing, knows better than to offer false reassurances.

When he is ready, he sits up and scrubs the snot and tears away from his face. Sheepishly, he looks at Sasuke's yukata and tries to wipe away the mess he had left on it. He smears it even more on the silvery fabric before Sasuke pushes his hands away. Naruto turns his reddened face into the sun, watching the small wisps of clouds drift by. He draws in a shaky breath, "Touchan was killed."

Sasuke nods slowly. They sit for a few minutes in silence, listening to the music of the leaves in the breeze. Naruto pushes his grief down, down, down. As far as it can go. Sasuke picks up a stone and chucks it against the surface of the water, watching it skip twice before sinking. "Bet I can skip further than you."

Naruto stares at him for a moment before breaking into a smile, eyebrows raised, "Bet you can't."

Naruto loses the skipping bet this time around, and shoves Sasuke into the river in frustration. When the boy resurfaces, looking unimpressed with his hair pressed flat against his head, Naruto laughs so hard he almost hyperventilates. Sasuke pulls himself out, but Naruto leaps forward and throws him back in, laughing even harder at the way his arms flail before he falls in with a yelp. He's lying on his back, wheezing as he tries to catch his breath when Sasuke comes back out, magically grasping a fat, thrashing fish.

"Food." He waves the fish as he climbs back on land. The fish is dropped to the ground and killed swiftly with a sharp rock. Naruto watches in quiet awe as Sasuke guts it and impales it on a stick. He quickly gathers a few sticks and dry grass and sets it into a pile, holding onto the impaled fish as Sasuke uses a stick and stone to create a small fire.

"Sun's going down," Sasuke comments as he holds the fish just over the greedy tendrils of fire. He hesitates, then whispers, "Can you stay?"

Naruto breathes. He turns his face to the scarlet sky, knowing his family needs him. _I can be selfish for a day._ "Yeah."

"Not going?" Sasuke needs to make sure.

"No."

The two settle down later next to a dying fire, passing the crispy fish between one another as they take careful bites. It doesn't completely fill the stomachs of two adolescent boys, but it's enough to keep them satisfied. Enough to have them lie back and slowly drift off into sleep.

* * *

Kushina eyes him thoughtfully when he lets himself into the Uzumaki House the next morning. She sits across from both Hashirama and Tobirama, paperwork splayed out across the table between them. Naruto recognizes his father's handwriting scribbled across the scrolls—battle tactics, unit assignments, training schedules, complete and incomplete missions. He takes in his mother's grey complexion, her swollen eyes. She was never one to break easily. Loss has always made her more determined to end the war. She decides not to question his absence.

"Naruto, come sit," she pats the empty cushion on the tatami next to her. He does, folding his legs neatly beneath him. "We have been discussing changes we want to bring to the tide of the war. There will be a meeting amongst the generals and clan heads soon. You should join us."

He nods. Tobirama hands him his katana, cleaned and sitting in its polished scabbard.

In the Commandant Room that afternoon, Naruto finds himself sitting amongst fellow Senju generals and clan heads. The meeting begins with a momentary tribute to honor the men that were lost in the past week. He pretends to ignore the pitiful glances thrown his way. Then he learns that his father's unit had been taken out inside the Uchiha compound. It was a failure because Minato is dead. It was a success because Hashirama is alive. Grief runs through his blood as anger and determination. _The Uchiha will pay_.

"—Minato's suggestion, the new units will be smaller, more focused," his father's name cuts him out of his daze and he turns to listen to Hashirama address the meeting. "Three teams, each consisting of three warriors and a captain, will make up a unit operating under its respective head general. Each departing warrior will receive a scroll containing your unit members and missions after the meeting."

Everyone nods in understanding. A few of them furrow their eyebrows. Tobirama speaks up, "Additional training has been implemented based on assigned units and teams. The times will be included in your scrolls. Please report to your sessions as usual. You have two weeks to get acquainted with your team members."

"Are there any concerns?" Hashirama's eyes roam the room, and upon hearing its silence, rises from his chair. "You are all dismissed."

 _Head General: Gama Sennin no Jiraiya of Senju_

 _Captain: Hyuuga Neji of Senju_

 _Team Members: Uzumaki Naruto of Senju, Inuzuka Kiba of Senju, Tenten of Senju_

 _Unit Members: Rock Lee of Senju, Nara Shikamaru of Senju, Akimichi Chouji of Senju, Yamanaka Ino of Senju, Hyuuga Hinata of Senju, Aburame Shino of Senju_

 _Training: Daily sessions, midday_

Naruto reads his scroll once, then twice. Hyuuga. Huh. Must be that new clan his grandfather recently negotiated with. He remembers his father saying something about their bloodline's visual prowess. _Could really help us against the Uchiha._ It was pretty amazing to see how far his clan had grown, all thanks to Senju Hashirama.

"Naruto-sama," a deep voice addresses him. He looks up to find himself staring at a bowed head, a dark ponytail falling over one shoulder. When the man straightens, his pale lilac eyes consider the Senju heir before him. "I am your team captain. Pleasure to meet you."

Flustered, Naruto quickly gives a small bow as well. Then he laughs nervously, bringing his hand to his neck to scratch an itch that was never there, "Please, just Naruto is fine—"

"Yo!" Someone jumps on his back and wraps all limbs around him. "Can't believe we're in the same team, ne, Uzumaki?"

Naruto flails his arms, recognizing the voice. "Get off of me, you dog! Ow—Inuzuka—don't kick me, you piece of shit!"

Rambunctious wrestling ensues. Lee jumps in after a few minutes so as not to miss out on this loud display of youth. Tenten finally pulls the three apart after noticing the dangerously swollen vein on Neji's forehead. The rest of their afternoon is taken up by light sparring.

Light for Neji, the blonde quickly notices a few seconds into the dispute, is not light at all. Despite not being as fond of his katana as Naruto is, the Hyuuga could pack quite a blow with just the base of his hand. Against armor, too. He wonders what a spar against this boy would be like without any defense. It's odd, he finds, that even in a match where he is swinging his katana at the other boy's armor, calculated blows at his nerves have him bringing down his sword seconds later than he had intended. And in war, a second could make the difference between life and death.

A hit in the elbow briefly paralyzes him— _why won't my body move_ —before he brings his sword down, but by then Neji, lilac eyes almost bulging with strain, already has his own blade pressed against his neck.

* * *

"Sorry, I've been training my ass off. Leaving soon—barely escaped Neji-taichou just now. Man, was he pissed. I don't think he likes me very—"

"When?"

"Tomorrow—at dawn."

"For how long?"

A pause. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Three weeks, maybe four. Likely more."

"Can't—can't you stay?"

"Sasuke, you know I can't—"

"Hn."

The grass is soft under his feet. Leaves dance in the trees to his right, a few falling in waves when two squirrels scamper by. On his left, the river rolls by lazily, coming up every so often to lap at the hanging plants nearby. The sun blankets him in warmth and his heart tingles with excitement, but he shivers, goosebumps rising on his arms. He hates when Sasuke is like this. "Oh, come on, don't do that."

"Hn."

He stares futilely at Sasuke, who is standing across him with his arms crossed over his chest, dark eyes taking a sudden interest in the ground. Kicking at a pebble by his foot, he huffs. Never in the years that Naruto had known this boy has he ever seen him like this. Annoyed Sasuke, quiet Sasuke, livid Sasuke, happy Sasuke, sleepy Sasuke, stubborn Sasuke, but never this. He doesn't even know how to begin to describe it.

It's odd—not being able to read him the way he always has.

"What?" Naruto throws his hands into his golden hair, tugging in frustration. "Hey, hey, I tried to come but we never finished until well past sundown. I tried."

At this Sasuke flicks his dark eyes to ones as blue as the river. Naruto knew this one—livid Sasuke. "You have no idea. Do you know how long I always wait for you? Do you know how it feels to be the one always left behind? Always? Look, you're busy, I get it. I'm not an idiot, but I'm also not someone to entertain you when you're bored. You get to go somewhere—but I don't. I stay here. I wait. I'm always fucking _waiting_. Sometimes, I don't even know if you're going to come back."

 _What_? The blonde gawks at him, still watching even as his forest friend turns around and runs back into the trees. No, not livid Sasuke—livid Sasuke kicks and punches and screams, but never runs. He stares at the retreating back as his mind tries to connect the dots. An embarrassingly long moment passes before he finally realizes. He's been seeing Sasuke once every few days since he was six years old. Sasuke, who waits and waits and waits. Sasuke, who is always there, who probably comes to the river _every day_ just in case Naruto happens to drop by. The last two weeks have been the longest he's gone without crawling through that hole. After today, who knows how long Sasuke will have to wait? Assuming he even makes it back alive.

"Wait, wait!" He runs into the forest, but even after all these years, the only place he has ever gone in the trees is the makeshift arena so that is where his feet take him. That is where he finds Sasuke furiously flinging shuriken at tree-Naruto. "Sasuke, please."

But the other boy ignores him, just throws star after star at the tree trunk until Naruto reaches over and grabs him by the arm and flips him around so suddenly that he drops the last one in surprise. The blonde takes in the furrow of his delicate brows, the downward turn of his pink lips. He finds himself gazing into crimson eyes, flickered with specks of black. He blinks once, then twice, and shakes his head. Looks into those wide, wide eyes again and sees the familiar blackness. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"Let me the fuck go."

"Sasuke—"

"Let me go."

He does. He watches his friend walk away from him, feels the coldness in his chest turn to solid ice. "I'll miss you."

The dark-haired boy's steps falter until he just stands there, shoulders rising and falling with each breath. The bustling life in the forest hushes, almost as if they are watching him as intently as the golden boy is.

"Bet you I'll come back," Naruto nods reassuringly, even though Sasuke cannot see. "I promise—as a friend."

"See, that's the thing, Naruto. I'm your friend, but you," he swallows—hesitates—then turns and leaps into the blonde. Naruto realizes which Sasuke this is as he folds him into his arms. Sad Sasuke. "You are my only friend."


	4. Part 3: The Sky

**Part 3: The Sky**

Battle armor is much heavier than training armor. It clunks loudly with every step, and clings to his body like a stubborn child. He briefly wonders if this is what turtles feel like and imagines the Senju and Uchiha as crimson and navy turtles running at each other. He chuckles under his breath.

"Oi, Uzumaki," Tenten's careful whisper snaps him back to attention.

"Sorry."

Neji peeks through the leaves of their hiding spot, colorless eyes strained so hard a few blood vessels protrude from his face. He shifts slightly to dab at the sweat on his brow. The order for Team Hyuuga had been simple: Intercept the reinforcement unit. Naruto bitterly thinks it should have been _hide for four hours in bush, stare until eyes fall off._ Neji is to warn them when he sees sign of movement—Hyuuga can see slightly further than the typical human if they strain their eyes hard enough, but the difference is a huge advantage in war—it would give them about five seconds more time to act. But currently, well into the fourth hour of kneeling in the undergrowth, Naruto's legs are falling asleep. Pinpricks run their way up from ankle to thigh and he curses. Next to him, Kiba grunts softly as he shifts to massage his calf. He wonders how Neji has held the same position for—

Two pale fingers lift—the sign. Naruto's hand goes to the pack sown into his armor's sash and he weaves his fingers around four shuriken.

"Six," Neji whispers. They're outnumbered, but just by two. Not too bad, but a small reinforcement unit means a strong one.

He can hear them now, footsteps falling closer and closer to where he crouched in the undergrowth, hearts falling closer and closer to their still ends. They're fast, but he is faster. _Three. Two. One_.

His arm swings, fingers releasing the shuriken, as his legs propel him forward and he leaps out just as the unit is racing by, taking them by surprise. The stars find their way into arms and calves uncovered by thick, navy armor.

"Fucking Senju," a dark-haired man hisses as he adeptly dodges the weapon by a hair's length— _how_?—and pulls his katana out to slash at his blonde assailant. A ring reverberates through the forest as their blades meet. This first single note meets Naruto's ears with the clarity of a crisp winter morning before everything dissolves into roars and clashing metal.

Never in his life has he fought with the intent to kill, but in this moment, with his katana still pressed against the Uchiha's, he feels the fury and grief of his father's death boil so thickly in his blood that he might explode. _Die. Die. Die_. He raises his katana, then spins and delivers a back-kick before slashing his blade down as his opponent lands. One of his fastest routines, but the Uchiha dodges with ease and runs his blade across Naruto's arm. He screeches in anger. Suddenly he understands why, even after all these years, the Senju have had such a difficult time defeating their warring clan.

 _Uchiha have the visual prowess to read into the smallest muscle shifts and predict your next move. Be spontaneous when you fight_ , Tobirama had told him when they departed the compound. _And when focused on a target, they can aim with frightening accuracy. Never let down your guard._

Adrenaline races through him with such white hot speed he can feel it sear his veins with power. _Die. Die. Die_. He feigns a punch to the man's face, angled mildly to the right so that he would step to his left to dodge. The man does, but trips over a waiting foot. His back does not even hit the ground before Naruto slits his throat, his blade hitting more resistance than he had expected as it breaks through bone and flesh. The Uchiha lands hard against the forest floor, coughing and gurgling with his hands on his neck, blood seeping out from between his fingers the same way the river does whenever Naruto tries to grasp it—flowing, flowing.

When the glorious high of battle fades, Naruto sees. Deep scarlet. Flecks of black. The quieting gaze fades completely into grey darkness. He cannot recall why this all looks so familiar, but his stomach churns and churns until he doubles over and vomits onto the man's blue armor.

The sounds of battle have died down behind him, and soon he feels a hand rubbing his back. He straightens, grimacing at the sour taste on his tongue as he hastily wipes a hand over his mouth.

"First kill, huh," Kiba says quietly as he looks at the Uchiha man, dead like his five other comrades. Bodies still warm. They had just successfully completed their mission, but Inuzuka's face is as empty as Naruto feels inside. "There is no feeling in the world that can compare."

They know Naruto isn't vomiting over the blood he spilled, but instead over the brief feeling of glory he had while doing it. It is as if he had been thrown back to the first time he laid hands on Tobirama's bokken, when he spun and slashed. Like the fight belongs in him.

* * *

He is tucked into a bush, noisily relieving himself, when the great fox spirit suddenly materializes before him. An indignant squawk comes out his mouth as he stumbles back, barely tucking himself into his uniform before he slips and lands squarely on the ground.

" _Oi_ ," he huffs, glaring at the scarlet spirit. "A warning would be nice, y'know. How'd you even get here anyway?"

 _ **The forest is mine, gaki. I go where I please.**_ The spirit strides to where the blonde heir is sprawled out and takes a seat before him. _**But more importantly, this is for Sasuke.**_

"Sasuke?" His golden head flips side to side as he searches. "Is he here?"

 _ **No**_. A chuckle, one so low that anyone else would have mistaken it to be a growl, vibrates through the trees. _**I am here—alone—to accompany you and keep you safe.**_

Naruto scratches his head, laughing nervously, "Look, Kurama. I, uh, appreciate the gesture and all but there's no way I can just walk around camp with a huge nine-tailed fox."

 _ **Do you take me to be a fool?**_ Kurama stands up, his great tails billowing out behind him like a blazing fire. Naruto, despite himself, cowers back at the display. _**I've figured out those markings on your face, how you know me and how you can see me even when I do not wish to be seen. You're Uzumaki, aren't you? That means I can do this.**_

Kurama leans down until he has his nose pressed against the blonde's abdomen. In one quick motion, he dives _into_ him and disappears. Naruto screams.

 _ **Shut up. I don't plan on going deaf anytime soon.**_

"Where the fuck are you?" He slaps at his stomach. "Oi, Kurama—"

 _ **I'm in your subconscious, you idiot.**_

"Wait, what? In my head? Are you going to, what, just listen and watch everything I do because that's kind of weird, like really, really—"

 _ **Don't make me regret this, Senju no gaki.**_ A sigh of exasperation. _**I'm here to help. Trust me.**_

Naruto shut up.

* * *

Naruto watches pink eyebrows curve in concentration as Sakura runs her fingers over his wounded arm. She presses the skin around the wound and frowns. "How old is this?"

"A couple hours," he mirrors her frown. "Why?"

"It's—," she shakes her head. Peers closer. "It's already scabbed over. Closed. You sure this is the right one?"

"I know where I've been cut, Sakura-chan," Naruto leans over now to look at his own arm. Blue eyes widen. It looks old already. "What the—"

 _How?_

"Poison?" Naruto suggests. He ignores the way his heart prickles with fear.

Sakura shakes her head, cropped pink hair flying around her face. "Doubt it. The skin around the wound is perfectly fine."

"So I'll be fine?"

"Seems so," she says. "Certainly odd, but I'll apply some ointment and bandage it anyways. Let me know the moment something feels wrong."

Naruto nods at her, relief settling into his tense shoulders. He trusts her with his life.

* * *

Life is a funny thing, Naruto realizes. It glows strong on its own—stubborn—but one quick knick is all it takes to snuff it out. He watches the branches of the trees sway and wonders how quickly life could be snuffed from them. He sees a bird and imagines the brightness of its eyes fading. He closes his fingers around his neck. One cut is all it would take. He wonders briefly if he can break his own neck with his own hands. Is it possible?

His mother is quieter nowadays. She had wrapped her arms around him when he returned, and in that moment they both knew that their lives had changed. He now thinks 'warrior' is a fancy name for 'cold-blooded killer.'

Water flows in curves around his toes as he dips his feet into the river. He wonders if life could be snuffed out of a river. He imagines the lights of the Senju compound going out one by one in the night. He wonders if life could be snuffed out of the stars.

 _And me—would I go out with a scream, or a murmur?_

A pebble hits him lightly in the back of the head, and Naruto responds without turning back.

"I won."

"Won what?"

"The bet." He turns into Sasuke's familiar gaze. "I came back."

"Hn."

"You waited."

"Hn."

Sasuke sees the new shadows in his friend's blue eyes. He settles down by Naruto, sitting so their shoulders touch, and watches bits of the sun flicker in the river. When Naruto wonders aloud if life could be snuffed out of the sun, Sasuke cuffs him in the back of the head.

"There are some things you just can't snuff out—they're loud and often annoying." He pauses, then adds, "Like you, _usuratonkachi_."

Naruto jams his elbow into Sasuke's ribs. Sasuke shrieks and shoves him into the river.

* * *

Seven months in, the Hyuuga Team had successfully completed thirteen missions. Sometimes they intercepted Uchiha units, but most times they acted as reinforcements to the other teams in Jiraiya's unit. After his first kill, Naruto had locked a part of himself away, tucking it in the shadows as the rest of him flourished into a great Senju warrior. Rumor has it that in battle, he _glows_ , able to deflect even the sharpest katana with his bare hands. Clad in his red armor, he looks like everything. He had gone through over seven years of rigorous training to be a protector of his people, but more importantly, to be a killer. One that could silence an entire unit of Uchiha within minutes.

Naruto did not speak of the fighting whenever he returned home. Sasuke sits with him by the river often, skipping stones or counting ripples. He is thankful for it. Sasuke had once jumped him from behind—just for the fun of it—but in a breath's moment, he had him thrown to the ground. Sasuke had yelped and then Naruto had jerkily let go of the arm he twisted against his back. He had apologized profusely— _Oh, Sasuke, I'm sorry so sorry, please. I thought you were them and I_ —and looked at his own hands and cried. Sasuke couldn't use that arm for two days, and Naruto refused to look him in the eyes until Sasuke had punched him across the jaw. _Now we're even._

They both knew they weren't.

"Jiraiya-sama would like to see you," Neji says to the blonde as he stuffs a pack of food pellets into his pack. He regards his team member with lilac eyes, watching him stare off into space as he turns a smooth pebble over and over in his palm. "Anytime before we head home would be great, Naruto."

"—huh? Oh—yeah—sure thing." Naruto quickly pockets his lucky pebble and exits the team tent. He scans the battle camp, and hops over to his toad-loving general. "You summoned?"

"Ah, yes. Just a moment," Jiraiya angles his head towards the blonde but keeps his eyes fixed on his scroll as he finishes his mission reports. He sighs as he sets down his brush and begins to fan at the wet ink on the scroll. "You are becoming a fine Senju warrior, Naruto. Thirteen successful missions—no easy feat."

He nods at the compliment.

"As you may know, your team is set to head home within the hour. However," the general clears his throat. "Hashirama-sama and I have been discussing some _things_. We believe it would benefit you greatly if you were to do some individual training for the time being."

"Individual training?" His brows come together in confusion.

"With me," Jiraiya replies. "We would leave within the hour as well, but not for the compound."

"Then where?"

"Around," a battle-worn hand waves in lazy circles. "We'd do some traveling for a while. New locations, new mindsets. Hashirama-sama says it'll be good for your head."

Naruto licks his lips. He likes the sound of it all, but a weight tugs at him—a _need_ to go home, to go to the river and throw a few pebbles and laugh at the dumbest things and press an onigiri into waiting hands. To return to the normalcy—or the remnants of normal in a world of war, where children are taught to hate as soon as they can speak and trained to be assassins as soon as they can run—that enveloped his life with its warm, comforting grasp. _But that is impossible_ , he realizes. His father will never return to him.

"Kaachan," he says. "I should probably go and see her at least, before I leave. You can't possibly want to steal her only son from her without a goodbye, ne, Jiraiya-sensei?"

A generous smile flashes his way. "Already been arranged. She'll be here any minute with the supply—"

"Naruto!"

And suddenly he is swallowed into familiar arms, breathing in the warm scent of _home_. Something lodges itself in his throat as he croaks, " _Kaachan_."

For a brief moment, in his mother's arms, Naruto lets himself be taken back to a time where his life was simpler. Dinner was never a quiet event in the main Uzumaki household, with unconfined laughter bouncing off the walls as Naruto danced around with his underwear on his head, clumsily scrambling away from his tomato-faced mother only to trip on the long, sprawled legs of his father, who had laughed so hard he was on the floor, half-choking on a grain of rice and half-suffocating from amusement.

"You're killing me, Naruto" the general had wheezed, his body still trembling with laughter and his face so red it almost looked purple. "This is how I'll die."

If only.

Kushina holds her son's face and strokes the whiskered cheeks with delicate fingers. "Your grandfather told me about his plans for you. You should go—it'll be good for you."

But Naruto understands what she is saying underneath those words. _Go travel. See the world and not the battlefield. At least I know you'll come back to me._

"I'll write you everyday," he says.

"You better," she laughs, her bright hair flowing in the wind like the wisps of an undying flame. "Or you'll be in big trouble when you come home, young man. Take care of yourself and oh—Jiraiya here has some bad habits. Don't you pick up any! But don't give him a hard time though. Always eat a lot and wash up every day, okay? I don't know how many people you'll meet in your travels, but make lots of new friends. Make sure they're good to you, because no one takes advantage of my son! Train lots so you don't get rusty, and—and—"

Naruto pulls his mother back into a hug, wrapping his arms around her frame as tight as they could go, "I know, kaachan, I know."

* * *

The heated water of the spring blankets him in comfort and warmth as he lets out a deep breath of air, bringing his head back and resting it on the edge of—

"Heeheehee!"

His head snaps up at the giggle to find his general squatting by the wooden divider meant to _separate_ the men and women. He rolls his eyes. He had rummaged through Jiraiya's notebooks the other day and returned red-faced. Jiraiya and his so-called research.

"Oi, _Ero-sennin_! The divider's there for a reason."

"Hush, hush. This is for my research. For the greater good."

"Perv."

"Hush."

Thankfully, Jiraiya saves his research for when the sun goes down. Naruto had tried to help him once. At first it had been fun, but then his curious eyes focused on a woman bathing herself in the corner of the pool. He watched her run a cloth over her light skin and shift her fingers through her dark, shoulder-length hair. She tossed back a long bang, and the light of the moon caught it briefly as it curved around her head, turning it to an almost-blue. And then it dawned on him who this woman resembled, and he screeched, face so red it almost burned, stumbling back until he landed clumsily in the spring. Kurama threw such a fit he nearly blacked out.

When the sun is high and hot against their backs, they travel. For the first time in Naruto's life, he touches sand. He holds it, feels it run through his fingers as if it were alive. It crunches under his feet and digs itself into his shoes. There are hills and mountains—for as far as he can see—coated in just that: sand.

"I take it you've never seen sand before," a husky voice speaks up from behind him. An accent of the south. Naruto turns from where he is mindlessly stabbing at the ground with his katana and finds a boy staring at him with eyes like emeralds and hair like fire.

He straightens cautiously as the other boy regards him with eyes rimmed with shadow, like jewels in a cave. "Yeah, first time."

"Hn."

A pause.

He suddenly bursts into laughter, throwing his head back so the sun catches his golden strands in its warm grasp. His chest tightens with a strange longing for home and his dark-haired friend. His arms come around his abdomen, holding him together, holding holding _holding_ because he might break apart just then. "Sorry—ha—sorry, you just reminded me of a friend back home."

"A friend?"

"Yeah."

Sapphire meets emerald, and the fire-haired boy does not think he has ever heard a laugh as sorrowful in his life. "I'm Gaara."

"Naruto."

And that is how he makes the first friend of many in his travels—tucked away, ankle-deep in sand, behind a broken mountain.

* * *

The porcelain is cold against his skin as Jiraiya pushes the ornate pottery into his hands. He looks at his general, confused.

"Your father's ashes," he says. "Your mother gave them to me before we left. Minato wanted to be thrown to the wind. And this feels like him, doesn't it?"

"It does," Naruto says, running his fingers over the engraving of his father's name.

The old man sighs. "Your father was a man of peace. A good man, pushed to fight for the people he loved. His legacy is yours now."

Naruto watches Jiraiya walk away, giving him some time to himself. Over his head is the bright, bright sun and underneath him is a patch of new grass on the edge of an old cliff. The ocean crashes into the rocks below, grabbing at the earth but only coming away with crumbs each time. His hair ruffles against the salty breeze.

 _A man of peace._

He can hear his father's laughter as he releases the ashes into the wind.


	5. Part 4: The Sun

**Part 4: The Sun**

He smiles into an embrace as warm as the afternoon sun, breathing in the familiar scent of his mother—home. Hashirama claps him hard on the back.

"Welcome home, Naruto," he says, a grin gracing his face, exposing new lines fanned out by his curved eyes. His dark hair is still long, but now sprinkled with even more highlights of snow. "We've missed you."

Uzumaki Mito pulls him into her arms next, "Naruto—as handsome as ever, just like your father."

Tobirama takes him into a sturdy hug, but Naruto can see softness in his rose-colored eyes. "You've gotten taller, I see."

"Almost as tall as you, Tobirama-ojisama!" He laughs, trying and failing to slap away the hand that ruffles his mess of hair.

Then he is struggling to breathe as Kiba and Sakura jump him, their arms wrapped around his middle and his chest like vines on a tree. Lee hops onto his shoulders and embraces his head, blinding him temporarily and throwing him off balance. The heap falls over with a few grunts and even more laughter.

"Where's Neji?" He asks.

"Front lines," says Kiba.

Over the past few years, he had seen everything—broken mountains covered in swirling sands and crashing oceans dancing beneath the sky. He had danced with children adorned with dirt and laughed with lords clinking in gold. But in this moment, surrounded by his friends and family, he laughs—for the first time in a long, long time—like the world is never going to end.

* * *

He cannot see the sun today.

Grey, rolling clouds tumble over the endless blue of the sky. He can smell the ozone in the air, can feel the pressure of the humidity press into him, can hear the silence of the forest awaiting the storm. For once, it seems as though the sky is in his reach—if he just stretched his arm up and tried to grasp it, to touch a cloud and push it aside to see the sun—

Except that he cannot, so he stands there, arm raised and hand closing around nothing but air. He brings it down to clasp the hilt of his katana, tracing the familiar engravings of the Senju and Uzumaki symbols with nimble fingers. In a world of change, he is thankful for this one constant.

By the river is a dark-haired boy, gazing at the sky—perhaps he, too, is searching for the sun. He is taller than he remembers, wider at the shoulders. Hair black in the shade, the shorter ends still standing up at the back of his head. Naruto takes a step and his heart sings in his chest. His blood thrums, rolls and thrashes in his veins like the ocean waves.

Then he is so close he can almost touch him—just a little further, a little _more_ —and his lungs fill with air so thick he can feel it spin inside him, can feel it roll like the clouds in the sky, can feel it pushpush _push_ until he chokes and—

"Sasuke."

The other boy doesn't move. He stands there, facing the sky for so long that at first he doesn't think he heard him. Without thinking, he picks up a pebble by his foot and flings it at his back. It bounces off the fabric covering his shoulder and falls with a soft tap.

"I heard you the first time, _usuratonkachi_."

 _Say that again._

And then he turns, and the day finds the night. He stares at him, takes in his straight nose, his cheekbones, his eyes. Always his eyes, like stars churning in the evening sky.

"Still an asshole, huh." His smile is blinding. Sasuke chews on his lip with his head tilted slightly to one shoulder, dark strands caressing his cheeks, long enough to graze his collarbone. He had always loved the odd way Sasuke keeps his hair longer in the front and shorter in the back. He can see the words tumbling inside him, straining to come out but the other boy keeps them captive. "Your hair got longer."

Naruto unties his katana from his belt and tosses it to the side. He throws himself into Sasuke, barreling into his middle hard enough that the other boy loses his footing and they both fly into the river. The water swallows him in its cold arms for a brief moment before he resurfaces, lungs pulling in oxygen and tongue tasting ozone.

"What the hell was that for?" Sasuke exclaims, wading in the water a foot away. He splashes the golden boy half-heartedly. Naruto looks at him, trying to suppress his laughter. The knitted eyebrows, the pink puffed cheeks, the wet hair plastered against his head—it suddenly takes him back to an afternoon many years ago, when life had been warmer and smiles had come easier. But then the other boy—unknowingly—curves his lips down into his characteristic pout and Naruto explodes with laughter. His chest—his heart—hasn't felt this warm in a long time. He laughs so hard that water slips into his mouth and he chokes, tears burning his eyes until his vision blurs. His throat clears of water but suddenly fills with sobs as the sorrow and homesickness that had built itself up over the past few years begins to shove itself out of him.

He blinks a few times to clear his vision and looks back at Sasuke, hiccuping.

"You look really bad with wet hair," he sniffs, wading to the other boy and peeling the dark hair from his face. "Like a sad cat."

Sasuke rolls his eyes, "You look like a dying fish when you cry."

His sobs turn into laughter and he pulls himself out of the river, flopping around on the grass like the fish he so nearly resembles. Light rain kisses his skin as Sasuke unceremoniously drops down beside him.

"I missed you," he says to the sky.

Sasuke hums.

As the rain sings to the forest, Naruto tells Sasuke of the flying sand, the roaring ocean, the so-called research Jiraiya conducts each night, the jump Kurama made into his belly, the broken mountains, the odd food, the new training, and the friends he'd made along the way. He tells him everything—except the way it feels to slit a man's throat.

When the sun begins to sink behind the mountains, Naruto smiles as he folds Sasuke's fingers over a familiar triangle of rice and seaweed.

* * *

Sasuke is not particularly fond of rain. It clings to him—every last drop—with cold, cold hands. He hates storms in particular. Obnoxious and loud—each billow of cloud releasing wave after wave of water droplets that scream as they break upon the ground. But Matatabi is warm and comforting in the way she curls around him, and he is dry.

Naruto is not particularly fond of mist. It whispers to him and twirls inside his lungs, slow and taunting.

 _Can it take my breath away? One tug, and life—gone._

He hates dark, rolling clouds but loves the storm. He loves its passion—its inability to lie. When the day darkens too early, he walks outside and waits with his lips pressed in a thin line. Only when he hears the angry cry of the sky and feels the stroke of its honest tears against his cheeks does he finally smile.

* * *

A pebble bounces across the calm river as Sasuke says for the fifth time in the past two weeks, "Tell me about the ocean."

It lands on the other bank with a dull _thunk_. He's afraid to look away—once he does, he'll lose it forever. The pebble will become like all the others—just one of the many stones by the shore. To his right, his friend shakes his head of tousled sunshine and asks, "Again?"

"Again." He pulls his gaze away and picks up another stone. Naruto flings his own pebble into the river, where it skips three times before sinking. He frowns, and Sasuke stares at the curve of whiskers on his cheeks, drinks in the striking blue of eyes deeper than the river. His own stone hops its way to the other shore once more. A satisfied smirk graces his lips when he hears Naruto's huff of annoyance.

But when he speaks, his voice is calm. Soothing. "The ocean is bluer than the sky. Colder and louder. It demands more than the sky. It screams and yells and roars."

 _Like you._

"Hn." Sasuke hums as he always does. He reaches down to pick up another pebble, and sapphire eyes follow the way his back curves and the way the sun turns his hair to an almost-blue. An army of dusky clouds begin their trek across the sky. At the silence, Sasuke turns his head to look at him, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Two stones are skipped into the river, bouncing in tandem. One lands in the river, and the other makes it to the shore. One boy smiles while the other mutters colorful curses.

Together, they take a breath.

"But it also sings. If you close your eyes, you can hear it dance with the wind. _Ero-sennin_ says that it moves with the moon, even in the day. Like two lovers far, far away from one another. The ocean is fair—it grabs at the shore and laps away, but it also gives back what it takes. It can take something from you, but it's only borrowing. It will give it back to the earth—perhaps somewhere else across the world."

"If I follow the river, will I find the ocean?" The same question as always.

"Yes." The same answer.

"I want to go," he watches the grey sky ripple in the current of the river and drops a rock in, letting the reflection break. "Some day."

"You will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He watches the hesitant, first drop of rain fall and run down the curve of Naruto's scarred cheek, making its way to a strong chin. "I win again, usuratonkachi."

"Oi, _teme_." Naruto kicks at the rocks beneath his feet and playfully cocks a brow. "Bet you I'll win at wrestling!"

The golden boy lunges for Sasuke, and the two land—hard—on the shore, rolling in the stones until the river laps at their legs.

"Fuck, my yukata's wet. Kaachan will have my head—"

"It's raining, idiot."

The end of Sasuke's lips curve up at the sputtering boy above him. His own arm is pressed painfully into the rocky shore, but he's got a solid hold in the other's collar. The rain is falling hard enough to hurt, beating the stones and the river in loud roars. Then Naruto laughs, the sound rattling his very core with a splash of life so strong he almost forgets to breathe. "I win!"

 _The ocean sings—but—_

Sasuke starts to roll his eyes, but pauses suddenly, a burning question searing the tip of his tongue, "Does the rain sing too—like the ocean?"

"What?" Naruto is still shaking from laughter as he peeks at Sasuke half-heartedly struggling beneath him, hair darker than a night without stars.

"Does the rain sing like the ocean?" The sky is shadowed and weeping, but when Sasuke looks up, all he sees is rays of sun and blue blue blue.

His chest fills with warmth as the sun smiles down at him, "No, not quite."

"Oh."

He laughs again, throwing his golden head back and feeling the rain on his tongue.

"The rain has its own song," Sasuke decides, his face serious. "Most times, it screams—but I guess it also sings."

Then the sun is quiet, eyes bright. Water drips from the mess of brilliant hair onto his cheeks in slow, full drops. The summer rain sings, it's voice warm and quick. But his heart is even warmer as it joins the orchestra with its own melody, thrumming in his chest in tune to the drops tapping at the leaves. He can hear the hum of their breaths—in, out, in, out—each greedy lungful of promises for another dawn. In this moment, there is nothing else—before him is the golden sun and the endless sky, and inside him is burning fire and sweet, sweet life.

"Yes, it does," Naruto chuckles so lightly it comes out almost as a breath. When he speaks again—almost shyly, his nose tinted red as he traces a delicate chin with his thumb—his breaths warm Sasuke's cheeks. "Na, Sasuke, can I?"

Sasuke doesn't know what he means, but he nods anyways. He wonders if the ocean is as blue as those eyes.

And the golden boy— _Naruto_ —breaks into his magnificent smile, and presses his lips to Sasuke's.

* * *

There is numbness. No—not quite. Burning. Yes, burning numbness. Like a fire with no flames—no wavering—just the constant burn. It makes his fingers tingle, his toes twitch.

There is clashing. Teeth on teeth. He cringes.

There is softness. The feel of his mouth against Naruto's, lips slightly chapped. Odd, good, but—

"What are you doing?" He turns his head to the side, feeling wet lips slide haphazardly against his jaw in his haste. "What are we doing?"

He can feel Naruto shift above him, pressed so tightly against him that he can feel the rising and lowering of the other's chest with each breath—can almost feel his heart beat in tandem with his own. "Kissing."

"What's that."

Then he feels him tremble, each laugh vibrating with the burning numbness thrumming inside him. A finger flicks lightly at his chin. Sasuke thinks he can feel Naruto's life itself.

"It's something people do when they like each other a lot," he breathes in between his laughter. Then blue eyes cloud in uncertainty, "Is that okay?"

Sasuke nods, thoughtful, and blue eyes regain their brilliant clarity. A small smile lifts the scars on his cheeks.

"Do it again," he says, and the other boy's eyebrows disappear into his hair in mock surprise.

"Oh—you like it, huh?"

"What—"

"Oh, Sasuke likes it when I kiss him, doesn't he?" Golden eyebrows wiggle above vivid blue. "Don't you—ah, wait—don't pout—come on, now—"

"I don't pout," he mutters and pulls Naruto to him. The rain is cold against his skin, but he is fire.

* * *

Sweat beads at his temple as he crouches behind a measly bush, waiting. The humidity of summer swirls lazily in his lungs with every breath. He huffs, impatient.

"You sure it's today?" He wipes at the moisture on his upper lip, frowning when the sleeve of his yukata comes back a shade darker.

"Heard from Hashirama-sama himself," Tenten says from his side, cheeks flushed from the heat. The strands of hair that escaped her buns are plastered against her neck and forehead.

Kiba, leaning on the tree to his right, is half-asleep when the captain walks through the front gates with his pack strapped to his back. He's taller than Naruto remembers, face and hands battle-worn from years of fighting while he traveled with Jiraiya.

"Neji-taichou!" Naruto jumps out from his hiding spot, flailing in the air before he lands on his captain's side, arms and legs wrapped around him.

"What the—Naruto?" Neji's eyes are wide with surprise before they curve into crescents. "Naruto!"

"Did you miss me? Huh? Miss me?" He laughs as Tenten and Kiba both hop out to greet their returning captain.

"Squeeze me any harder and I'll say I didn't," He chuckles when Naruto quickly lets him go and drops to the ground. "You got taller."

"So did you," Naruto says, tapping him lightly on the arm. "Damn, it's good to see you again."

"Alright, alright," Kiba claps. He nods at Neji, "Why don't you get cleaned up, and we all go out for some ramen, ne?"

Naruto almost dies when he accidentally punches Kiba in the face while throwing his fist in the air, but forgets about the incident when ramen meets his lips an hour later.

* * *

The mossy undergrowth is soft against Naruto's cheek, its dampness cooling his skin. He hums and leans forward from where he is laying to press his face into Sasuke's neck. He likes pressing himself into Sasuke, as if he can be wrapped in a blanket of patience and certainty—away from the glorious rush of battle and the crippling guilt that follows.

"Hi, you," Naruto breathes in his scent of warmth and comfort. Sasuke lets out a sound between a giggle and a gasp.

"Hello," he murmurs, and Naruto chuckles against his skin. The sun lulls lazily in the sky, and the shadows of the trees sway in Naruto's hair so he's wearing a crown of golden leaves. "Did you fall asleep?"

Naruto slowly blinks into a smile. "Mhm. You?"

"Hn." Sasuke is mid-yawn when Naruto nuzzles his neck and attacks him with butterfly kisses and all he can do is laugh and laugh and laugh.

He laughs until he is wheezing, begging for him to stop, and Naruto folds him against his heart and he is warm and so, so happy. "Tell me about the ocean."

Naruto's chest rumbles with his laughter. "It's blue, Sasuke, the deepest blue I have ever seen. And vast—great—enough that if you touch it, you touch the rest of the world, too. It grabs at the earth like a starving animal, but it sings more patiently than any bird. It's temperamental too—a bit like you."

Sasuke nudges him at this comment, and Naruto jerks because it tickles. He shifts so that he's lying by Naruto's side, gazing into eyes so blue that he thinks he can see the sky and the ocean all at once. "Can't we go?"

"Some day—when the war's over, and my duties are complete." Naruto runs a finger along Sasuke's chin.

A pause. "I don't think it's real anymore."

"What?" The hand on his chin jerks away.

"The war—you always talk about it, but I've never seen it."

Sasuke almost regrets his words when he sees the way Naruto's face contorts in pain. He opens his mouth to apologize, but Naruto sits up and shrugs off his yukata.

"Oh." He breathes. Lines and lines of scars litter his arms and torso. He has a few scars of his own, gained from clumsy running or a slipped shuriken, so he knows the pain in their stories. He only has a few, though, and cannot fathom the burden of carrying so many stories on his body. With a hesitant hand, he traces the scars, taking in their jagged edges and rounded curves. A few are shallow, but most are deep. "Why did you never tell me?"

"It hurt." Naruto takes a sudden interest in the forest floor. He lets out a shaky breath. "Not just what was done to me, but also what I've done to others."

Sasuke aches at seeing him like this—he had only ever seen a sullen Naruto a few times in his life, and it always scared him. He pulls him down to his chest and kisses his mess of golden hair.

Naruto thinks Sasuke's heartbeat is the most beautiful song he has ever heard.

* * *

His knees have barely met the tatami of the Commandant Room when Hashirama orders him to stand. He rises clumsily, swaying and righting himself with flailing arms. Hashirama laughs.

"You've grown into a fine man, Naruto," he says. "And I'm only getting older. It's time you begin your training as the future Senju commander."

Naruto spends the afternoon with his head buried in scrolls of Senju history and bloodlines. He carefully selects two advisors—Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru, two men known for their patience and tactical brilliance—and have them summoned for training as well.

"We can form alliances with the Suna clan," Naruto suggests, observing a large map on the table in front of him. "I'm good friends with Gaara, youngest son of their Head."

"Head?" Neji raises his eyebrows.

"Basically a commander," Naruto explains. "They're relatively prominent, but not at war, so there's no need for one."

"An ally from the Southern Sands," Shikamaru folds his hands together in thought. "A good idea. Hashirama-sama?"

The aging commander smiles at the idea. "I will discuss this with my own advisors. In the meantime, make preparations—Jiraiya's unit will be heading out in two weeks."

* * *

The fire crackles and spits out a spray of embers. Kiba rubs his hands together and raises his palms to the warmth of the flames. He heaves a satisfied sigh and looks at Lee mischievously.

"So, Sakura, huh?" He snickers when Lee splutters, flipping his head around to make sure no one other than his team had heard. They are, after all, in the Hyuuga House of the Senju Compound, and Sakura tended to visit Hinata often. Kiba shrugs at him. "She's pretty."

Everyone laughs. Lee's wide-eyed ogling had not gone unnoticed. He nods, giving up. His eyes go soft. "And crazy smart. Youngest medic we have and she fixed me up in no time."

"I think Hinata's pretty, too," Kiba continues. At Neji's disgruntled huff, he elbows him. "Prettier than you."

Tenten giggles and shares a glance with Neji. He watches the red of the fire dance in her brown eyes as he cuffs Kiba in the head. She turns and nudges Naruto in the shoulder. "What about you? Anyone special?"

Naruto reddens.

"Sakura or Hinata," Lee says, waggling his eyebrows. Naruto thinks they look like caterpillars. "Or—hm—Ino? Karin?"

Naruto shakes his head and mumbles, "Not really my type."

Kiba howls and fixes him a teasing look. "Then, O Future Commander, do share with us low-lives. What _is_ your type?"

"Uh, that," Naruto fumbles. "None of your business."

Kiba is already groaning in mock boredom. " _Oi_ ," he grunts. "Really."

"Fine, fine. Uh, I guess I like dark hair. Dark eyes," Naruto's cheeks burn. "And—and a nice chin."

"A nice chin?" Kiba guffaws. Naruto stares pointedly at the fire. He really liked Sasuke's chin. He couldn't see anything wrong with that. When Kiba finally collects himself, he lewdly grabs his own chest. "Na, na—what about a _nice rack_?"

Naruto frowns. Sasuke didn't really have big breasts. "Eh, not really."

No one hears his answer because Tenten, fuming by now, leaps up and punches Kiba in the face. "You fucking pervert!"

Kiba wails, trying and failing to duck from Tenten's assault. "I told you we shouldn't have invited a girl!"

Tenten breaks his nose.

* * *

His fingers close around water—again—and he watches in dismay as the silver fish skillfully slides away. "Fuck!"

"Too slow, usuratonkachi," Sasuke stands knee-deep on the other side of the river, smirking with his fat fish. Naruto never understands how he manages to do it with his bare hands.

"Shut it," he huffs, but lets his eyes wander to the silk yukata tied and bunched around Sasuke's thighs. Sasuke's smirk grows when he notices and Naruto, face red from the sun and embarrassment, kicks water at him. "I swear your ego is getting so big, you'll be stuck in the river and guess who won't save you then? Me!"

"Well, I'm feeling quite tired," Sasuke pretends to lazily inspect his flopping fish. "I think I might call it a day—"

"Wait, no, I'm sorry—Sasuke! I'm hungry and sorry! So so sorry. Please catch me a fish, kind sir."

Sasuke laughs and tosses the fish on land and crouches over the water to find another one. The water reflects broken sunlight onto his smiling face.

 _He's so beautiful when he's happy._

Naruto stares until Sasuke returns his gaze. He fumbles out of the river to kill the flopping fish with his katana.

* * *

"He's not here."

Kushina's chest thickens with worry at Tobirama's words. The sun is falling below the mountains, and Naruto's dinner sits on the table back at the Uzumaki House, cold. She wrings her hands. "He told me he was training with you today."

"I haven't seen him," Tobirama shakes his head. "Though he did tell me something about reorganizing Jiraiya's library."

* * *

Sasuke waves another fat catch in the air and joins Naruto in cooking the fish over a hastily-made fire. Naruto eats heartily, tearing at the flesh with his teeth and carefully avoiding the thin bones.

"Na," he says between chewing and swallowing. He waves his stick, the impaled fish gawking at Sasuke, a question at the tip of his tongue. "If you could have one thing in the whole world, what would it be?"

Sasuke seems to think for a moment before answering, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" He frowns. It's not the answer he is expecting. "But what if you _had_ to pick something?"

"I guess I'd like a family. Something to go back to." Sasuke looks at his fish, peeling at the burned skin. "You know."

There is an underlying tone of bitterness in his voice, but Naruto just hums and tries to understand. Sasuke takes a bite and adds, "It'd just be really nice if I had a place to go back to."

"I can be that place, if you want." He smiles through a mouthful of fish, blue eyes bright and genuine.

 _It's not the same. You're always leaving._

Sasuke stares at the fire. His ears turn the color of sunset when Naruto presses an oily kiss to his cheek.

"Na, Sasuke, your ears are red—again," Naruto whispers against his neck, watching goosebumps rise under the flicker of his breath.

"Shut—" He doesn't finish because—

 _Have you ever felt the sun against your lips?_

* * *

"He told me he was meeting with Hashirama-sama," Jiraiya folds his arms as he faces Kushina and Tobirama in his library, both looking worried now that the full moon looms above them and Naruto is still nowhere to be found. "Not a very good liar, I see."

Kushina is briefly glad that he isn't, but concern overtakes all else. "I'll talk to my father—you two organize search parties."

She wrings her hands together again, hoping her son had only snuck off to a friend's house and lost track of time. Her knuckles are almost bleeding hours later, when none of the clan has seen him and all are searching.

* * *

A sharp pain in his arm jolts him awake in the darkness. He reaches over and feels a warm liquid coat his fingers. He sniffs, then sticks out his tongue and tastes it. The metallic flavor settles itself across his tongue.

Blood.

"Wha-?" He turns his head towards where Sasuke was lying—where they had accidentally drifted off into sleep a few hours ago—only to find the other boy curled up, gripping his left leg with his lips skinned back against his teeth. Upon closer inspection, Naruto finds an open gash across his thigh. He reaches out for him, but someone grabs his arm.

He grits his teeth as he is hauled up by his cut arm, and throws a back-kick at his assailant. His foot meets flesh, and the grip on him loosens enough for him to pull his arm away and pick up his katana. He unsheathes his blade and swings, hearing his assailants jump back.

"Fuck, Izumi, they're young," a deep voice says a few feet away. The man's katana flickers in the moonlight. A mask covers half of his face, but there's no mistaking the gleam of crimson in his left eye. Uchiha.

Naruto whips his head around. Three figures, tall. Two male and one female, he suspects.

Someone else sighs, "We don't even know their alliances—"

"This far in on Senju ground?" A huff. "We're practically in their backyard—"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto stands poised in front of Sasuke, his fingers tight on the hilt of his sword.

Instead of answering, the woman—Izumi—flies forward with her blade out, her long hair a furious wave of black behind her. He counters and the night erupts in the familiar clash of metal. His heart surges with adrenaline that thrums in harmony with the vibration of his blade. He had been training over the course of his journey, but it's been long since he truly fought another person. He had forgotten how much he loved combat.

Izumi raises her katana again, stepping to the side and lunging for Naruto in the same moment the masked man jumps forward and grabs Sasuke. Naruto, his back to him, holds up his katana, ready to deflect the blow that never comes.

"Itachi?" Her voice cuts the fight, broken with emotion and thick with hope.

"What—" The other man steps forward, his left eye hidden behind a patch, his right eye focused on something behind Naruto. "Impossible."

Naruto spins around to find the masked man with his blade pressed against Sasuke's throat. Anger begins to consume him.

"Don't you dare—"

Three obsidian crystals bathed in blood. A crimson pinwheel. His Sasuke. Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Uchiha _Uchiha_.

His heart falls from his chest, and all that is left is a gaping, empty cold. So cold.

 _No. No no no._

"Sasuke." His voice is barely a whisper. "Your eyes."

But Sasuke cannot see his own eyes. He looks into Naruto's deep blue, watching as warm skies turn to ice. His leg is still bleeding, but adrenaline courses through his veins and numbs him. Warm liquid falls from the blade cutting into the skin of his neck.

"Itachi?" Izumi tries again.

"Who's that." Sasuke manages to pull his gaze from Naruto and look at her, neck straining against sharp metal.

"No—" The man with the eye patch squints at Sasuke's face. "But Mikoto—her eyes—her face—Sasuke?"

"What—" Sasuke breathes.

The masked man releases him immediately and steps back, silver hair glistening in the night. He appraises him with one eye as dark as night and the other red as blood. "Oi, let's not casually throw that name around—"

"What is going on?" Sasuke demands. His chest rises and falls like the crashing waves of the ocean—chaotic, turbulent, needing. The fire of his eyes flash in the moonlight.

"You were so, so small—you couldn't have survived—fuck—if only I had looked harder, looked longer—" The man with the eye patch holds his head in his hands, a statue of pain and regret.

"Survived what?" Naruto has never heard Sasuke's voice so strained, so weak. He cannot bear to look at him. "Who are you?"

"I am your uncle," he says. "And you, Sasuke, are the youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto, grandson of Uchiha Madara. Your parents were killed in the Senju ambush almost two decades ago—we thought you were dead. I'm sorry."

 _Senju ambush?_

"Ambush?" Sasuke speaks the words spinning in Naruto's mind. "They're dead? And—Itachi?"

"He was your brother. I'm sorry."

The silver-haired warrior steps forward, hand raised, "Oi, Obito, let's not—"

Naruto's blood freezes.

Uchiha Obito.

 _Taken out in an ambush ordered by Uchiha Danzo, headed by Uchiha Obito._

Suddenly the lessons he had gained and the world he had seen in his three-year travel fade away, and he is thrown back to the moment when Tobirama, with a shattered voice and eyes carrying all the sorrow in the world, had broken the news of his father's death to him.

 _Your father's dead._

 _Your father's dead._

Father. Dead.

Dead.

 _Dead._

He raises his katana, noting the golden glow of his own arms and his blade. His voice shakes as he tries to speak through the whirling chaos of his body, "Uchiha. Obito. Ha. You killed him—you took my father from me!"

Naruto's spirit and hatred flare like flames around him, lighting up the darkness of the forest. He dives forward, lips curled, but finds his attack countered by the silver-haired man. As Naruto looks him in his different-colored eyes, it hits him. Rumors from the battlefront. One red eye, one black. Hatake Kakashi of Uchiha. The Copy-Cat Warrior. Almost a brother to Uchiha Obito.

"Nice glow," he raises a grey eyebrow, eyes lazy. "What bath oils do you use?"

"Move."

"Ma, I really wasn't looking to kill anyone tonight," he lulls. "Don't make me change my mind."

"Move!" Naruto shoves forward, his radiance intensifying. But Kakashi remains faithfully in front of Obito, reflecting Naruto's own movements in equal capacity.

To the side, Sasuke looks at Naruto in confusion. He has always known there was a war, but Naruto had never given him his family name. He didn't know who was fighting who.

"We're at war, boy," Kakashi's voice is almost sad for a moment. "People die."

"My father wasn't supposed to die." Naruto looks behind Kakashi and fixes his gaze on Obito's red eyes.

"You look just like him," Obito says quietly. "Your father was an honorable man."

"Don't throw your shit at me," he snarls. "It was a _peace_ negotiation—"

"Namikaze Minato, wasn't it?" says Obito. "I remember him."

His father's name surges through him and he sidesteps Kakashi, lunging for revenge. But this time, Sasuke steps in front of him, arms out. "Naruto, no."

The cold emptiness in his chest thrums, seeping into his limbs. He stares in disbelief. "What?"

"Naruto," he whispers. "All I've ever wanted was a family."

 _It hurts._

"I thought I was enough."

 _It hurts so much._

"I want to go home."

 _Someone make it stop._

"Sasuke, he killed my father."

 _Please._

"And your family killed my parents. They took away what could have been mine."

 _Stop_.

"Sasuke."

 _Please_.

"You have everything. I had nothing. Now I have something, and I won't let you take that away from me."

 _Please_.

 _How do you choose between love and family?_

 _It's simple—family._

The night fades into the orange glow of torchlight.

"Shit—" Kakashi mutters just as Senju Hashirama emerges from the forest with a unit of men at his feet. The commander steps forward—his very presence demanding respect—and the air stills into a cold quiet. Naruto had never seen his grandfather this way.

"Uchiha," Hashirama's voice splits the silence that hangs over them. "We have you surrounded. Surrender, or take your last breaths."

"Hashirama-ojisama," Naruto starts at the strength in his own voice. "We were just having a civil conversation."

The Senju leader takes in the blood coating his grandson's sleeve. "That doesn't look civil to me."

"The Senju raid about two decades ago," he counters. "What was that?"

For a moment, Hashirama hesitates—a quick shift in his façade that no one else would have caught. But Naruto knew his grandfather. "Naruto, now's not the time—"

"Tell me."

The commander sighs as if the weight of his armor has finally taken its toll on his shoulders. Sorrow fills his eyes as he begins to recall the night that changed everything.

"It was the night of the Uchiha Fire Festival—a night of celebration for the entire clan. Tobirama, however, saw it as an opening and led his unit to attack behind my back—it was my fault. I heightened security for your birth but was distracted. I didn't notice that he had gone. They infiltrated the Uchiha Compound while everyone was drunk on sake, and eliminated Madara's brother and son. Two of his Head Generals.

But everyone was in festival wear—they couldn't tell warrior from civilian. Anyone who got in the way was—killed. I found out when he was gone after your birth that night and relieved him of his position. I sent him to travel for six years, and he met you upon his return."

The glow around Naruto fades with Hashirama's every word as realization settles upon him like a stone in water. He and Sasuke had been intertwined by the names they were born into since the night he took his first breath. A war of two great clans.

"Two Head Generals," Obito says. "Their families. You took it all."

"I'm sorry," Hashirama's face is heavy. "But you understand—it's war."

 _Death unto death unto death._

Naruto looks back at Sasuke and walks until they are standing right in front of one another. His eyes drink in as much as he can of the boy basked in the soft torchlight, knowing it is the last time. His heart trembles in its emptiness. He hates his great-uncle for taking all Sasuke could have had, but a selfish part of him is almost thankful.

 _I'm glad I met you._

"Senju and Uchiha. Just our luck," he laughs halfheartedly, aching at the sorrow in shining, red eyes. He envelops Sasuke in his arms, as if holding him to his chest will warm the cold inside. "The next time we meet, promise me you'll fight your hardest, ne, Sasuke-teme?"

"I'm not losing to you, usuratonkachi," Sasuke's tone is almost light, but he chokes suddenly and wraps his arms around the Senju heir as tight as they can go. "Thank you, Naruto."


	6. Part 5: The Storm

**A/N:** Hi guys! I know I haven't been leaving very many author's notes at all, but I wanted to thank all of you for reading this. This story is something that has been growing with me for little over a year now, and releasing it out in the real world is frightening! I also wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave a review—you know who you are—I really appreciate the support. Honestly, every time I read them, my face lights up and my day is made. Thank you all, and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Part 5: The Storm**

The leader of the Senju holds his family close to his heart. When he had heard the yells resonating through the trees and followed the soft yellow glow, he had every intention to kill whoever held his grandson. But his heart wavers on his decision—he has never seen anything like this.

The clearing is still as the two—Uchiha and Senju—are wrapped around one another in an embrace not of hatred, but of friendship. As he watches them, he can feel an underlying bond hanging onto the two by the threads.

 _No_.

He squints at the shuddering of shoulders, at the tenderness overriding the pain in the Uchiha boy's red eyes as he clings onto Naruto. There is something about the familiar way he tucks his chin into the junction of Naruto's neck and shoulder, as if they were made to fit into one another the way the stars fit into the sky. Chaotic and so, so beautiful.

He cannot see Naruto's face from where he stands, but the Uchiha unit is entranced.

This isn't a bond hanging by the threads—this is a bond rooted so deeply in them that he can almost hear the war—duty, family, honor, _tradition_ —tear out their insides as it pulls them onto opposing sides.

Obito meets his gaze—a shared look heaping with questions—and they lower their swords.

 _No, not tonight._

* * *

The day is bright outside, but Naruto lays in the darkness of his room, eyes dry and pillow wet. "Oi, Kurama."

 _ **I know.**_ The response resonates from deep within him. _**I'm sorry**_.

He cannot understand. "But, why? Why didn't you do anything? Any of you?"

 _ **We are all but spirits of the forest, boy. We cannot meddle with Uchiha affairs—we are spirits of the Senju.**_

"You raised him."

His mother taps gently on the door, but Naruto stays curled into his futon. His body is too empty for him to move. Her footsteps fade as she walks away.

 _ **That was the most we could do. We did not know he was Uchiha then.**_

"That makes a difference?"

 _ **Too much of one. We can no longer interfere.**_

"You helped me fight."

 _ **You're a special circumstance, Naruto. You are Senju. Uzumaki, at that. But Sasuke is not. He has returned to Uchiha—to Izanagi—and we cannot reach him.**_

Izanagi. The word rings of familiarity in his head, but he cannot place it. Something of a legend he had read about as a child. "Please."

 _ **But I can help you, Naruto. We can.**_

"I think I hate Tobirama-ojisama. For that night."

 _ **You do not.**_

"No, I don't." A breath. "Kurama—why must a name change everything?"

He receives no answer. He hurts at the knowledge that Sasuke is no longer waiting for him. Aches at their permanent separation. Multiple times, he had entertained the thought of being in love. He couldn't be—that would mean he chose Sasuke over Senju. That can never—will never—happen. This war—his family—runs deep through his blood. His grandfather. His father. His mother. His friends. At the murmurs of Mito consoling his worrying mother in the living room, Naruto begins to push memories of Sasuke down and away.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke spends the first two days of his return curled into his futon, a pillow over his face. He cannot sleep with a roof over his head. Cannot bear to look at the finality of a ceiling that is not sky. It's suffocating. He doesn't speak nor eat. He doesn't let anyone tend to his wound. It frightens the Uchiha.

The compound had been quiet upon their arrival, but quickly buzzed with excitement and whispers that Uchiha Sasuke is alive. Everyone was out to catch a glimpse of his face. His grandfather, he found, was a tall and proud man. He rested his hands on Sasuke's shoulders and smiled fondly at him. The others, all dark-haired and dark-eyed like he was, took his hands and led him around the Uchiha House. They fought over one another to bombard him with stories of their great warriors and pushed delicious morsels of food into his hands. Sasuke had never felt so loved by so many people. These people were him. His heart sung.

 _Home_.

Then Uchiha Madara had shown him to the untouched room he once shared with a brother he never knew. _You must be exhausted_ , Madara had said. _I'll send a medic to get your leg tended to. Otherwise, I'll leave you to it._

Alone, he had sunken to his knees. He had made a choice back in the forest, and now it was all new and loud. He had everything he had ever wanted, didn't he?

 _But why does it hurt? Naruto, what have I done?_

Obito enters his room on the third morning of his arrival, holding a tray of breakfast. He kicks the pillow from Sasuke's head, sits in front of him, and shoves the food in his face. "Get up. Eat."

Sasuke fills his mouth with fish and rice. Under Obito's directions, he bathes and dresses himself in a black kimono. Two Uchiha crests, stitched into his haori, sit atop his chest. He frowns. It's not as comfortable as the yukata that Chōmei had spun from her own silk.

Obito takes him to a clearing where gray plaques are arranged neatly in the grass. He points at one, eyes softening. "This is your family's. Your name is here since we thought—you know."

He glances around the clearing. It must be a cemetery. He had read about these in the scrolls Naruto used to let him borrow. These plaques belong to everyone who has passed. He looks at the one dedicated to his family.

 _Uchiha Fugaku_

 _Uchiha Mikoto_

 _Uchiha Itachi_

 _Uchiha Sasuke_

"Who were they?" He reaches down to run a finger along his own name.

If Obito is surprised at his literacy, he doesn't show it. "Your father was a man of duty and honor—a great general who led his men well. Your mother—she was sweet and kind, but quick on the battlefield. I always lost to her, actually. And your brother was a genius. At just five, he already had Izanagi."

 _Izanagi?_

Sasuke shakes his head, knowing that the gaps in his knowledge would be filled in soon enough. He presses his forehead to the plaque and closes his eyes. His family—his blood. His heart aches for this family that he has always wanted—now has but does not have. He kisses the names of his father, his mother, his brother. His grief—for his family and for the golden boy he misses and for the empty, cold pain in him—boils into rage. He asks Obito for a blade and scratches out his own name.

 _Tousan, kaasan, niisan. I could not have you, but I will avenge you._

* * *

"You haven't touched your ramen," Kushina comments, frowning at her son. When he doesn't seem to hear her, she reaches across the table and taps his bowl with her chopsticks.

He starts, raising blank eyes to stare at the steaming bowl in front of him.

"Sorry."

She hurts to see him like this. Naruto had gone missing three nights ago, and since Hashirama brought him back, he had never quite been the same. Sullen, upset. Even after Minato's death, he had been belligerent and determined—a storm. Now it seems as if only a shell is left of him. She was informed that Naruto had found out about the Senju ambush on his birth night, but she never expected the tension between her son and the Head General to be so dense. Hashirama had also briefly mentioned to her the newfound Uchiha heir—the embrace that drew him to let them go—though she couldn't quite piece everything together. After all, Naruto—with an Uchiha boy?

Kushina shakes her head. When she looks up again, Naruto is gone and the food is cold.

* * *

The baths that are drawn for him are steaming, but Sasuke always waits for the water to turn cold before sinking in. It's much more like the river this way. He settles his father's katana—now his—across the tub and watches the vapor paint clouds across the surface of the metal. It's heavy, with the Uchiha insignia engraved into both the hilt and the base of the blade itself. He wonders how his father had defended his family with it. When the clouds stop forming, he kisses the blade and settles in on the ground. The water falls over the tub when he steps in. As he sits, the coolness envelopes him in a familiar embrace. He can feel the heat sucked away from him. He dips his head beneath its surface and counts until his lungs threaten to burst.

* * *

Naruto distracts himself by diving headfirst into his duties. He finds that he's good at pushing the pain down and away. The Senju learn to never again bring up the name of the Uchiha heir after Naruto falls completely unresponsive during a meeting in the Commandant Room. He spends the next two nights in the solitude of his room, refusing food and water, before emerging as if nothing had happened. It frightens his mother. The Senju cannot understand this, but quickly move on. A strong alliance with the Suna clan is established, and the Senju have expanded their ranks greatly. When Naruto isn't training with Hashirama, he is fighting at the front lines, spirit glowing. General Maito Gai of Senju, ever so driven by Naruto's youth and spirit, takes it upon himself to fashion a set of golden armor complete with the crests of both the Uzumaki and the Senju.

"This is," Naruto says, staring at the mirror and stretching out an arm. The shine of the armor temporarily blinds him.

 _Very bright._

"Great," he finishes.

Gai gushes over how youthful he looks in the armor, and punches Naruto a little too hard in the side as he tests its effectiveness. Hashirama guffaws in the corner of the room.

Three years go by quickly as he falls back into the routine of war. Whispers of an Uchiha heir rising within his ranks drive Naruto to the brink of physical exhaustion. His heart and mind push at him, but his body threatens to break. Even Kurama howls at him to rest. He does not. Dedication soon names him a Head General alongside Tobirama and Jiraiya. His battlefield antics and looks have people calling him the Sun. With all his attention devoted to his unit, their dynamics flourish both on and off the battlefield, and they efficiently complete all given missions.

* * *

 _He was so selfish_ , Sasuke realizes. He swings his katana around to deflect two shuriken. The metal sings with each hit and each shuriken falls to the ground with a dull thud. Madara throws three more consecutively, and Sasuke manages to strike each one before they land on him—arm, shoulder, thigh. Danzo watches him from the edge of the training grounds, arms folded and face drawn together in a sullen frown. Sasuke finds that he is a difficult man to impress. Difficult to like, as well. He shakes his head with a jerk. _I gave him my whole life, but he only gave me a fragment of his. I was always waiting. I let him have Kurama. He left me with nothing. Selfish. So selfish._

A shuriken swings around from his periphery and leaves a deep gash in his thigh before he can deflect it. He watches as blood spills down his leg. His grandfather was a tough instructor, but Sasuke had learned to fight beautifully under his instruction.

"Stay focused, Sasuke," the commander says, crossing his arms in disapproval. "That could have easily cost you your life. You can't bring justice to anyone from the grave."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"He's brilliant, isn't he?" Hashirama beams as he watches Naruto speak with his team. They seem engrossed in whatever Naruto is saying. To his right, Jiraiya nods enthusiastically.

"Got his father's intelligence, and his mother's heart."

"He'd make a fine commander."

"He would," Tsunade says from her position next to Jiraiya. "Although, I'll admit I'm concerned for his mental state. He pushes himself too far. Not to mention that situation with the Uchiha boy."

"He seems to be progressing well with time, however. Nothing out of the ordinary—nowadays," says Jiraiya. "Not that I've seen."

Hashirama sighs. "To this day, I cannot grasp what it was about. But if Naruto is anything, it's his heart."

* * *

The musty scent of wet stone greets him as he follows the steps below the earth. In front of him, Madara walks steadily into the shadows. They had walked about four miles out behind the Uchiha compound to this place.

"Eyes on," Madara says, and Sasuke obeys. Immediately, the dark tunnel becomes clear. He makes out engravings in the stone—ancient ones telling the story of his clan. Sasuke follows him for two hours beneath the ground.

There are no doors to the rooms here—there's no need to hide anything as only the Uchiha are able to see in the blackness of the underground passageways and interpret the ancient writings of their clan. Yet, the one they stand before is blocked by a stone door. Sasuke reads the writing engraved into the rock.

 _Izanagi._

The name. Madara turns to him. "As my heir and as my blood, you must walk this part of the path alone. Few Uchiha come this far, but I've seen your eyes and they are like mine. You are ready. I will be returning back to the compound. Remember your family, Sasuke, and the breaths that you take for all of them now."

Madara takes his leave. When the sound of his footsteps fade away, Sasuke turns back to the door in front of him. The name on the stone screams of power. With a breath, he places his hand on the door and it slides open with a groan.

Even with his eyes on, it is completely black. He steps inside, swallowed by the new coolness of the air. He has never felt this kind of cold before, one that feels like a warning. The door behind him slides shut, and suddenly the wall in front of him is covered in ancient words, each symbol glowing a deep red.

 _Izanagi, god of all that is light._

 _Forbearer of Susanoo of summer storm._

 _Of Amaterasu of sun._

 _Of Tsukuyomi of moon._

 _Of children of Uchiha._

Sasuke breathes underneath the power that this room carries. Then a deep, archaic voice speaks to him in the way the spirits of the forest did.

 _ **Child of Uchiha.**_

He hesitates a brief moment. "I am Uchiha Sasuke."

 _ **Ah, I see. Second heir to the clan. Son of Uchiha Fugaku. Are you here to vessel a part of my soul?**_

"Yes."

 _ **Very well, Uchiha Sasuke. When my soul becomes a part of you, you shall have command of Susanoo, the armor of summer storm. Of Amaterasu, the blade of fire. Of Tsukuyomi, the shield of moon. However, I see that you are friend to the spirits of the forest.**_

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke asks. The room shakes with a low rumble that he takes to be the laughter of an old, old soul.

 _ **I breathed life into your ancestors, child. A friend of my enemy becomes my enemy as well. The story is long and you will come to understand soon enough.**_

Sasuke nods, as if the god can see him do so. He believes he can. He doesn't quite understand, but the soul seems to know more about him than he does himself. "I am ready."

He remembers the room quaking with power. The deep hum of ancient voices and the sharp clashes of battle. The feeling of consuming and being consumed. Of breathing and of dying. Of screaming. Immense pain. Red. Purple. White. Then finally, black.

He is lying down when he awakens, eyes red and heart beating in an unsettlingly calm. The room is once again dark save for the rectangle of light from the open doorway. No one speaks to him. He picks himself up with relative ease and begins to make his way out the tunnels. The door slides shut behind him.

In the quiet of the forest behind the Uchiha compound, Sasuke looks at his hands. The stories of the history of his clan and Izanagi and the forest—of humans and gods and spirits—spin in his head. He sees his father, his mother, his brother. It's odd though, because while his father and mother feel cold to him, Itachi thrums with warmth. He sees the years of peace before it falls to a never-ending war and then there is only pain.

In his hurt, Amaterasu bursts from his eyes and her fiery blade of black flames turns the forest into a bare clearing. After this, the Uchiha respect and fear him, and Danzo spends his nights shaking with rage.

* * *

Some assignments still call for the familiarity of his first team. They are tucked behind the trees with orders to scout on and count the men in the Uchiha camp, when Kurama suddenly speaks up.

 _ **He's here.**_

"What—"

A kunai lodges itself in the tree by his head. He instinctively ducks down, feeling blood seep down his cheek from the shallow cut.

"They found us!" Kiba hisses, squatting closer to the ground. Behind him, Tenten fills the gaps between her fingers with shuriken.

The veins around Neji's light eyes protrude from his face in concentration. "I don't see them."

Feeling Kurama rumble, Naruto pieces it together—there is only one person he knows who can throw with that trajectory. "They're behind us."

His unit jumps out and Naruto feels his gut clench as everything he had pushed away in the last years suddenly breaks open. Before him stands four warriors—three nameless, and one as familiar as yesterday.

Throwing knives strapped to his left leg, a katana in his right hand. Blue armor and eyes of blood.

Sasuke.

Except it isn't quite Sasuke—just someone with his face and his hair and his body. Naruto looks at this stranger—at the blank of his eyes and the straight of his lips—and finds himself labeling parts of him. Uchiha in the dark of his hair, the red of his eyes, the light of his skin. Aristocratic in the delicate build of his chin, the straight of his nose. How had he never noticed before?

 _But Sasuke, where did you go?_

"We're compromised," says Neji carefully. "The Uchiha camp can't know we were able to get this close. Do you understand?"

Naruto's blood runs cold.

Only one team will leave alive. He has every intent to make it his own.

Sasuke raises his katana and leaps for him. He counters with his own blade, muscles straining as the two teams erupt in battle.

Sasuke spins suddenly, catching Naruto off-guard, and cuts him in his left arm. He winces, jumping back and holding his blade out.

"Sasuke—"

"I have to kill you," Sasuke's voice cuts deep and low with something Naruto cannot understand. He leaps forward for another strike, but Naruto dives to the side and kicks him in the leg, throwing him off. "I made a promise to avenge my family."

* * *

The underground rooms of the hideout are cold and wet, sinking deep into his bones. He shivers despite himself, nose-deep in a scroll of warring clans and histories.

"Itachi?"

He hears the creak of rusty door hinges followed by the soft scuffs of shoes against the ground. Without looking up from the scroll, he calls out, "In here."

The scuffing grows closer until Shisui pokes his head around a bookshelf, a half-smile gracing his lips. "Reading in the dark again?"

"What else are my eyes good for?"

Shisui chuckles, walking over to take a seat in front of him. His face suddenly grows serious. "I received word from Hatake. It's Sasuke."

At his brother's name, Itachi looks up.

"He's making a name for himself amongst the Uchiha," Shisui says. He watches Itachi smile to himself and raises an eyebrow. "Hatake's still bitter that you didn't tell him about your brother earlier."

"Really. It's been—what—three years? The man can hold a grudge—I have to admit I'm impressed."

Shisui wets his lips and sighs. "But Danzo doesn't like any of it. Sasuke threatens his future hold on the clan."

"I see."

"I also believe Madara has taken Sasuke to Izanagi. Apparently your brother's cleared out two miles of forest behind the compound with Amaterasu."

"I see," Itachi frowns. "What of the Senju boy?"

"He's at the frontlines," Shisui says. "But Danzo—he's collecting more and more men under himself each day."

He sighs. "Our clansmen are fighting the wrong enemy."

"We need to intervene before things get out of hand."

"They already are."

"Fuck—I wanted to wait," Shisui stands up, his black cloak billowing around him, its red clouds swaying. "I'll get Yahiko to send word to Jiraiya—it's time the Akatsuki meets Senju Hashirama."

* * *

"Isn't it ironic," Naruto huffs an empty laugh, bringing his blade up to meet Sasuke's halfway. The clash jolts him. "That no matter how hard I tried to push you away, you come back? That you and I—we're friends?"

"You don't understand," Sasuke grits his teeth and swings again. "We're not friends."

Naruto slides to the side and slashes, blades meeting again. "Uchiha kill Senju kill Uchiha. An endless cycle of revenge. What for?"

"For Uchiha."

The same mantra Naruto had repeated all his life—the one he finally can see past—slips through Sasuke's lips as easily as water. Suddenly he notices the way Sasuke almost seems to glow in the way he himself does with Kurama—as if Sasuke's spirit is dark as an indigo shadow as his own is bright as the sun. He freezes. In his trance, Sasuke raises his katana for the killing blow. He swings down, blade breaking air. Eyes red, before they flicker and a new pattern spins out—black, with flames of crimson in its center. Three, two—

"Not today," Kiba growls, hurling his own sword at Sasuke. The Uchiha spins to deflect it, but the sheer momentum throws his katana out of his hands. In that moment of shock, Kiba leaps and kicks Sasuke in the side, knocking the other down and pulling a dagger from his belt. He has Sasuke on his back, forearm pressed into his neck, when he plunges the dagger down. Sasuke tries to kick Kiba's leg out from underneath him, but the dagger is quicker.

Time turns to honey as Naruto watches the silver tip close in on wide eyes, darkened from crimson to a familiar black by the shadow of Kiba's arm.

 _"Bet you I can skip rocks further!"_

Tied around Sasuke's left wrist is a bright orange handkerchief. Worn thin with age. It had once been used to wrap onigiri.

 _"Oi, oi, did you know your ears get red when—ow!"_

In a forest, there are two trees with boys painted onto them. One with hair flying around his head like the sun and the other like the night. They are smiling.

 _"Does the rain sing like the ocean?"_

The breeze dances between the leaves of an ancient tree, where once upon a time, one boy saved another from falling on his neck.

 _"You are my only friend."_

Silver, two seconds away from its intended target. A curl of black fire licks at the tip of the blade. Uzumaki Naruto of Senju moves on his body's own accord and throws his shoulder into Kiba. Kiba's dagger falls to the side.

No one sees the ebony flames consuming it.

Kiba lands on his arm. "What the—"

Naruto presses his face a hair's width from Sasuke's own. He can feel the warmth of his breath fan across his cheeks. Hot rage fumes inside him. His spirit shines brighter than the sun itself.

"I understand more than you think I do, Sasuke. Do you remember," He snarls, lips curled against his teeth. "That stupid question you used to ask. All the time? What do you fight for?"

"For Uchiha."

" _Liar!_ " Naruto is shaking.

Sasuke glares at him, the pattern of flames in his eyes spinning. _Why doesn't Amaterasu work on him?_ He roars, thrashing wildly against the man above him.

Naruto yanks his left wrist up. "This! This is mine—isn't it?"

He points to the gash on his cheek, so angry that spit flies out his mouth when he roars at the Uchiha heir. "You can't kill me, can you? I know you—you never miss, teme. _So quit lying to yourself_."

The field quiets as the rest of Sasuke's unit lies cold. Naruto's team watches warily. Sasuke reels his head back and spits in his face. Naruto grimaces through the wetness and punches Sasuke across the jaw. He spits blood in Naruto's face, blinding him, and flips them over. Naruto's body is painfully familiar, but their armor makes him clumsy. Tenten narrows her eyes and raises her katana, but Neji holds out a hand. This is Naruto's fight.

"You _don't_ understand. I. Had. Nothing." Each word is emphasized with a punch to a whiskered cheek. Before he can bring his arm down a fourth time, Naruto grabs him by the collar and rams his forehead into Sasuke's jaw. He pushes Sasuke back until he is sitting on him, the blood of his split tongue and lip dripping onto Sasuke's cheeks like tears.

"You didn't have nothing, Sasuke," he slides his fingers into black hair and forces the Uchiha to look at him. Sasuke curls his lip, baring bloodstained teeth. Dark tresses spill from his grasp like ashen waterfalls. "You had me. You always had me."

The red of Sasuke's eyes disappears and for a moment, he looks lost. He had always been stubborn as hell.

 _There you are._

The sound of snapping branches meets his ears. Uchiha reinforcements. Naruto is dragged up by the collar.

"Shit," Kiba exclaims as he hauls Naruto off of Sasuke. "They heard us!"

Neji squints in the direction of the noise, "There's too many. We have to go."

Naruto watches in confusion as he advances on Sasuke. He shrugs Kiba off just as Neji raises his katana. Realization hits.

There is a flash of light and Neji issues a quiet gasp. Naruto, blue eyes cold and blazing, has his blade pressed against his jugular.

"No one touches him."

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tenten raises her katana to his back. She keeps her hand steady, the tip of her blade barely touching his armor. She's unsure.

Kiba crouches lower, ready to jump him. "This isn't time for you to pick sides!" He flings two kunai aimed for Sasuke's head.

Naruto can't comprehend anything through the thrumming in his body. Everything is falling apart, again.

 _I'm not choosing sides—I can't be choosing sides._

He throws the kunai he holds against Neji's neck to deflect the other two, and spins to kick Neji back into Tenten. He positions himself between his team and Sasuke, who had been staring at him blankly throughout the entire ordeal. He growls. " _I said no one touches him_."

For a moment, they all look at Naruto, absorbing his actions, and wondering if he knows the extent of the consequences that would follow. No Senju ever attacked his own to protect the enemy. Neji, after collecting himself, speaks slowly. "Naruto, are you sure this is what you want?"

In his moment of hesitation, Sasuke jumps to his feet, flicks a blade out from his sleeve, and holds its tip to the back of Naruto's head.

The Uchiha footsteps get closer and closer and Naruto barks at his wide-eyed team, "Get out of here, go!"

 _I'm choosing your safety—that's it. Yes. The safety of my team. Not Sasuke._

They take a step back, eyes darting between Naruto and Sasuke, but when he yells at them again, they run. Naruto watches in a mixture of awe and fear when the edges of the clearing are suddenly engulfed in black flames. He turns around slowly to see the new pattern of Sasuke's eyes. Then his brain sets to work. All he would have to do to escape Sasuke's blade would be to dive forward, spin, and aim a kick to the shins. He could try and jump through the flames.

Instead, he tries for a tired laugh, but it comes out strained. "You would've already killed me, Sasuke. You can't."

"Don't move," Sasuke says. His voice has lost its vengeful quality. He speaks quickly. "They're going to come and you're going to go peacefully. Don't fight. Just stay."

Naruto notes the change in his tone. Realizing the fact that he's completely in Uchiha hands, he hesitates. "Sasuke—"

"Trust me."

Maybe it's the familiar tone of Sasuke's voice, or the sudden fear of what is about to happen to him, but Naruto finds himself standing down. He's still on his guard—Sasuke had just tried to kill him earlier, after all. The reinforcement units arrive at the site, and Naruto quickly counts twelve men. He might be able to take them, but not without serious injuries. It would mean having to fight Sasuke again. He could try to knock a few of them down before running, but that would mean pursuit. He doesn't know where he would run, or how he would outmaneuver the black flames. He cannot let them track him to the Senju camp. He knows the men will relieve him of his belongings, and when all attention is trained on Sasuke, quickly pulls his pebble from his pocket. It's smooth as ever in his palm. He puts it in his mouth, using his tongue to tuck it between his gum and right cheek.

"Sasuke-sama." One of the men steps forward. He ducks his head in respect, but his eyes follow the line of lifeless bodies on the ground.

"Restrain the Senju and take him as prisoner," says Sasuke. "And take the bodies back to camp."

The man that addressed him earlier quickly comes forth to bind Naruto's hands behind his back. He then wraps a cloth around his eyes and stuffs more into his mouth. Unable to scream or see, Naruto panics. He thrashes and kicks, foot meeting armor with a satisfying grunt. Swords are loudly drawn, and he can feel the warmth of Kurama's spirit surging through him. Someone cuts his shoulder, and blood soaks hotly into his clothing.

"Halt!" Sasuke commands, and Naruto can feel the immediate stillness of the men. He crouches low, trying to determine their locations around him. If he could just remove the blindfold, he could probably still outrun them. "This is the Senju heir. I need him in one piece. Is that understood?"

Naruto realizes how much Sasuke has changed in the years they've been separated. He had once been a quiet boy, headstrong and skilled, but gentle. Sasuke used to hate war, but now he commands it.

 _Who are you now? What have you become?_

Adrenaline is still surging through Naruto from his momentary panic, but it subsides slightly when Sasuke places a hand on his arm and firmly guides him forward. "Come on."


	7. Part 6: The Moon

**A/N:** I know this chapter is a lot later than the norm, but I've just been catching up on a lot of work recently. I also wasn't completely satisfied with this chapter at first, and so it was going through an editing process. This chapter's also quite long-a lot happens here! I hope you enjoy, and as always, please leave a review if you do. It makes me happy beyond imagination :) Again, thank you to everyone for all your support!

* * *

 **Part 6: The Moon**

"I suspect the rest of the team was taken care of?" Danzo raises an eyebrow as he etches patterns into his desk with his dagger. His eyes glow the color of blood before he roars and shakes his head. His pupils are dark, eyes bloodshot, when he looks up again. He can never hold that for long.

"Burned in Amaterasu." Sasuke takes in his shaking frame, the thin shoulders that rise and fall with each dragged breath. He's wondered many times how this man rose among the Uchiha ranks. Danzo was the war orphan of a branch family, after all. Now he sits next to Madara during their war meetings.

"I see. With the Senju heir in my hands, then, I shall proceed with negotiations," Danzo growls. He eyes Sasuke's stance and squints. "Kneel before your commander, boy."

Sasuke narrows his eyes, then turns and leaves without clearance. Danzo flings something at him for his disrespect, and misses.

In his tent, Sasuke sits at his desk with his fingers grasping an orange handkerchief. He tries to light it with Amaterasu again, but cannot. To him, the cloth had become Naruto, and Naruto will not burn.

He hates when Danzo resides over the military camp, but he hates it even more when Danzo is at the Uchiha compound. Recently, the man has been spending more time on the front lines while Madara has been hanging back around the compound. He knows something is going on between the two men, but can't place his finger on exactly what it is. There's been a few nights where he's spotted odd shadows lurking around the graves of his dead kin. Some nights, he swears he'd heard Danzo speaking to these shadows. Then there would be loud shuffling. Why are they even _being buried_ , when his clan had always burned the bodies? After all, Izanagi had shown him the burning of the bodies of his ancestors, his parents—he remembers clearly, the red of the flames, the ashes placed into boxes placed into the ground—

The orange handkerchief twists with his meandering thoughts. He'd have to speak to Kakashi about this.

The pounding behind his eyes is overwhelming, and he places his head in his hands. He had spent the past few years trying to hate Naruto, but in the end, he couldn't even kill him. He hated him—hated, hated, hated. But seeing him had reopened the old memories that he had worked so hard to seal away. He remembers the blazing blue eyes, and the truth in them on the battlefield. Naruto hadn't been selfish—he had been trying to find balance between family and himself. He can feel himself being torn between his newfound family, and Naruto. Frustrated, he slams a fist straight through his desk. The splinters make their way into his skin. He can't even feel it.

 _I have a family now. I belong—but why does it hurt? Naruto, why does it hurt?_

* * *

The Akatsuki—dawn, rising sun. Promises. Hashirama isn't sure what exactly he had expected when Tobirama approached him with his crumpled letter a few nights ago, but it was more than the straggly strangers currently sitting in front of him. He does like the black cloaks—and the red clouds are a nice touch.

"—Danzo is gaining power quickly," the sunset-haired one—Yahiko—is saying. Hashirama snaps back at the name, having zoned out during the "bridge to peace" chatter. "We have enough reason to believe he plans to eliminate Madara and assert his hold over the clan. With Naruto as his prisoner, he now holds the leverage in the war."

"There's Sasuke as well," a voice speaks up from the end of the table. He narrows his eyes. He hadn't noticed the man before, but he looks oddly familiar. "Danzo has both the clan's heirs in his hands, and both of them are threats to his power."

"But why aren't the Uchiha going after Danzo?" Tsunade shakes her head roughly. "We're Senju for fuck's sake, and it seems we're losing more sleep over Uchiha business than they are."

"He's cunning. Manipulative. The Uchiha like that," says Nagato. His eyes spin when he speaks. "Madara saw his potential and used it, but it's always been the other way around. Not to mention the Uchiha are proud—they're not going to overthrow a strong head general unless there's solid evidence of treason."

Hashirama shakes his head into the pause. When he speaks again, his eyes hold an unusual gleam of familiarity. "Madara is no idiot—we'll have to trust he knows what he's doing."

"Eliminating Danzo should be our biggest priority. He's more dangerous than Madara at this point," says Yahiko. "Then perhaps compromises between the Senju and the Uchiha can be made to end the war. After all, it's been going on for so long that its hard to exact what it is you all want from one another now."

The eyes of every Senju in the room harden for a moment. The statement was one that lingered in the minds of everyone, but no one ever dared speak it aloud. It is frightening to realize that they were fighting for nothing at all other than revenge. The man that had looked familiar to Hashirama speaks up, diffusing the tension. "In the meantime, I will send note to Hatake and have him find a time for me to speak with Sasuke. He is instrumental, and I am sure he can help with Naruto."

"Can we trust him?" Tobirama asks. He knows there aren't many other options.

"Yes," the man says. He looks Hashirama in the eye and the familiarity speaks for itself. "He is my little brother."

* * *

Naruto spends the first two days of his imprisonment blindfolded, locked behind wooden posts and secured to a wooden stake with his hands behind him, shackled in thick iron chains. He keeps his pebble folded in the palm of his hand. The wetness of the ground has long seeped into his skin, and there is so much mud he can no longer tell the difference between skin and dirt. He can hear that four Uchiha guard him at all moments of the day, one at each corner of his makeshift prison. The guards enter his enclosure to shove bread and water down his throat twice a day, but leave him in his position otherwise. He is forced to relieve himself in his pants. His neck is sore from sleeping in his position, and his shoulders ache from his confined arms. His hair is brown from the dirt, and his stink lingers around him in a fog.

A few times, he contemplates whether he had chosen Sasuke over Senju—briefly, if only for that moment. Each time he tells himself he had chosen the safety of his team. He ignores his act of holding a dagger to Neji's throat.

On the third day, the blindfold is roughly torn off his face and he finds himself blinking into an old, scarred face. He quickly takes in his surroundings, finding that he is in a wooden enclosure, inside a white tent.

"Ah, Uzumaki Naruto of Senju," the man says. "It's nice to finally meet you. Though I must admit that I had been expecting more from the Sun of Senju than this… mess."

Naruto notes the cropped hair, the walking stick, and re-evaluates the curved scars on the man's face. The descriptions that he's heard all his life match the man towering over his seated position. This must be Danzo.

Naruto had always imagined the brilliant roars of revenge when meeting Danzo. In his mind—in his dreams, he had driven his katana through Danzo's chest so many times that he's lost count. Now he sits, looking at the man almost lazily. It takes effort to stare at such an unsightly human being.

At the lack of a response, Danzo squats down so that he is eye-level with Naruto. He orders the guards out, and sniffs, wrinkling his face at the stench. "The mission report tells me that three of your men have burned in Amaterasu. You are now the sole card I have to win this war. For that, I thought I might help you a bit. Tell me, how much did you love your father?"

Naruto watches him blankly.

Danzo's face breaks into a grin. "Ah, but he's gone, child. I outsmarted him." Then he backhands Naruto so hard that he splits his lip. Blood fills his mouth. Naruto spits it into his face, momentarily blinding the man before kicking him hard in the knee.

"Fuck you."

Danzo falls into the mud, but calmly wipes his face and throws his head back in a unsettling laugh. "Remember now, you are the bargaining chip. Because of you, I have the upper hand in the war."

When Danzo leaves the enclosure, Naruto sees the way his shoulders settle from their tense positions. The man is afraid of him. Makes sense. He had let him suffer for a few days before coming in to see him. Naruto refuses to be humiliated. He rolls the back of his head against the stake as the guards return.

"Switch his binds," Danzo orders.

Four men are needed to hold him down as two more chain his ankles together. The chain is secured to the wooden stake. They remove the chains from around his hands and try to shove him into a suit that keeps his arms wrapped around his torso. He manages to punch two of the men in their stomachs in the process, but is restrained as more come in to aid the others. After spending days with his arms bound behind him, his shoulders scream from all the sudden movement. The two men he had punched shove him to the ground and kick him until he coughs up blood. The suit comes on without much resistance after that. His torso is wrapped in leather straps for security. He grits his teeth and swallows blood. His blindfold comes back on. Someone ties a cloth around his mouth to gag him. He hears the men leave and the gate to his enclosure being locked. Aside from the murmurs of the camp, he is shrouded in darkness, incapable of movement. Kurama tells him stories of life before the war to ward off his overwhelming panic. He turns his pebble over and over again in his fingers. He begins to dream to hide his reality.

On the tenth night of his imprisonment, Naruto wakes to muffled murmuring outside his tent. Someone enters the tent and orders the guards to leave. They do, and after a few more moments of murmuring, he hears two people enter—men, by the sound of their footsteps. Someone unlocks the door to Naruto's enclosure.

"Why is he blindfolded?"

Naruto feels emotion swell inside him at the sound of the voice.

 _Sasuke._

"Spy prevention."

"He's in a tent," Sasuke seethes. "He can't see the camp from here. And the gag? The torso binds?"

"Danzo's orders, sir. He was being uncooperative."

"There are no _cooperative_ prisoners." Then a pause, one of someone waiting. "I need the keys to his chains."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Sasuke-sama," a man says. "I'm under strict orders from Danzo—"

"Remember where your loyalties lie," Sasuke bites. "You may lock the enclosure after I enter. We cannot bargain with the Senju if their heir turns into a vegetable. I'm sure you don't want to jeopardize our leverage in the war, do you? Now, the keys."

"Sir—"

" _The keys_."

"Yes, sir."

The keys are dropped into a waiting hand. Sasuke steps into the enclosure and the man locks the door behind him. "I'll call for you when I am finished here. You may leave."

When the man has stepped out, Sasuke carefully removes Naruto's blindfold. The eyes that blink up at him have gunk hanging off the lashes, but are still bright as the sky. Naruto sees the concern in Sasuke's face—sees the internal war between family and friendship behind his eyes—and tries for a reassuring smile when the gag is removed, but finds his face crumpling instead. Blue eyes come to settle on the Uchiha crests adorning Sasuke's kimono. Sasuke hesitates for a moment before reaching out to run his fingers through matted blonde hair.

Naruto sniffles at him. He sets to unlocking his binds.

Shrugging off the suit and ankle chains, Naruto gingerly pulls his arms forward with a groan, rolling his shoulders and stretching out his legs. He suddenly becomes conscious of his own stink. He sees Sasuke eye his cut lip with a frown and tries to turn his face away. Sasuke reaches out to steady his chin, and he shrinks back slightly at the quickness of his grasp. The movement is small, but Sasuke catches it. He drops his hand and opts for sitting down across from him.

"Did they hurt you?"

A stupid question. Naruto glares wetly at him, then looks curiously at the bucket of water and backpack on the ground. Seeing this, Sasuke takes a towel from the pack and wets it in the bucket. He tries to hand it to Naruto, who only looks at him. Permission.

Sasuke swallows as he moves forward and awkwardly dabs at his lip, removing old blood. Naruto's bruised cheek and ribs had already faded to a dull yellow from Kurama's healing abilities. Sasuke wipes at Naruto until the water in the bucket becomes murky.

They don't speak much at first—as if they've forgotten how to without the rage and adrenaline of the battlefield. Then Naruto takes in a quivering breath, working his jaw. "I've figured it out—that black fire from the other day. It wasn't to keep me from escaping at all, was it?"

Sasuke hums, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

A pause. "What's inside you?"

Sasuke knows he's asking about the color of Susanoo's armor. "Izanagi."

"So he's real?" Naruto isn't all that surprised—Kurama rests inside himself, after all. "I read about Izanagi as a child—and Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo. They're all in you, too?"

"Hn."

Naruto chuckles at the sound. He leans forward and buries his face in Sasuke's neck. "Having so much, but not enough. It hurts, ne?" In the familiarity of Sasuke's scent, Naruto lets the shell of dreams he had built over his days in prison spill over. It shatters with the most intricate patterns of fractures.

 _It does, Naruto. So, so much._

And Naruto knows he hurts. They carry more than just ancient souls and spirits within them—they carry the history of their clans and it's heavy, weighing and tearing at the unlikely bond that they had formed by a river all those years ago.

The silence of Naruto's crying unsettles Sasuke.

* * *

The warriors jump in their seats at the sound of the table breaking neatly into two. Hashirama sighs—they've been replacing many tables as of late. His heart sinks as he looks at his enraged daughter. He hates being in this position. "Kushina—"

" _No_ ," the woman seethes, her arm still out in front of her, hovering over the table she had just snapped in half. "My son is not a piece in Danzo's sick game. There must be another way."

"We can carry out a rescue mission. Dead of night, with some of our best men. I will lead it," Tobirama suggests. He's invaded enemy territory before.

"We would be leading our men to their deaths—Naruto could be anywhere inside the camp. It's brimming with Uchiha. We don't even know if he's at the camp in the first place. He could be anywhere now." Hashirama closes his eyes. His head hurts from the lack of sleep. He tries to push the pain away. "Danzo has given his ultimatum. We must have faith in Naruto now."

"It's too simple," Tsunade says. "Danzo knows how strong Naruto is. There's something he isn't saying. Remember the other peace treaty?"

"It cost Minato his life," Kushina bites. "I can't let this one take my son."

"As much as I hate this, we have no other choice," Jiraiya pinches the bridge of his nose, frowning. "I say we sign the agreement now, then come up with a plan if this all goes awry."

Kushina lets her arm fall to her side. With Naruto as prisoner, she knows there's nothing they can do. Her father is right. Signing the agreement is the only thing they can do to keep her son alive now. Once the fight commences, she'd be able to see him. The Senju would be able to find a way to protect him. He doesn't truly need their protection, though—he's grown to be stronger than them all.

Hashirama looks at the warriors collected in the Commandant Room and sighs again. He has never seen a room so sullen. Naruto is a young man loved by them all, and his capture had taken its toll. The latest mission report had two accounts. It stated that he both turned against his own men to protect an Uchiha and to give his freedom for the escape of his unit. He suspects this is the same Uchiha from the forest, and can only hope the Uchiha is doing his best to protect Naruto now. Naruto's life relies on that bond Hashirama had witnessed all those years ago.

"Naruto is strong," he says, as he inks his signature into the letter. "We must believe in him."

* * *

The forest is loud in the dark of the night. Sasuke steps carefully around the perimeter of the camp as he completes his round of night watch. He had been confused when Kakashi had asked him to fill in for him—as a head general, Sasuke no longer carried out the duties of a regular warrior—but had accepted anyways. The man had been adamant, and Sasuke trusted him. He is thankful now for the chance to be away from the bustling camp.

His eyes pick up movement to his left and he flicks his head in its direction. He makes out the outline of a man taller than himself and dashes through the undergrowth with his hand on the hilt of his blade. The shadow comes closer and closer in his pursuit.

 _Almost—_

The man turns around when the sounds of his footsteps are within earshot. Sasuke freezes. Red eyes.

 _An Uchiha?_

"You are not supposed to be here—"

Then he makes out the face, one he recognizes from the stories and visions that Izanagi had given him. He doesn't believe it.

 _Brother?_

"Sasuke," the man—his brother—says. His eyes are red to help him see in the darkness, but Sasuke makes out a whirlwind of emotions behind the dark lashes. "You've grown—quite a lot."

Sasuke is too stunned to reply. He freezes, hand still gripping his katana. His voice is wary when he speaks. "Who are you?"

The man before him smiles, and he finds himself softening. His face is kind. "Ah, forgive my manners. I am Itachi, your brother—but you probably already know that."

"I do," Sasuke's heart threatens to break his chest. "You're supposed to be dead."

But Izanagi never showed him that. He'd seen the bodies of his parents being burned, but never Itachi. It was all an assumption.

"That's a long story," Itachi takes a seat by a tree and gestures to the floor. "Take a seat."

"I'm on duty—"

"Kakashi will see to it," Itachi pats the empty patch of grass next to him. "Come here."

 _Kakashi—a spy? Goddammit._

"Alright, you need to explain." Sasuke takes an uneasy seat on the ground, awkwardly pushing his katana into a comfortable position. Itachi waits for him, patient.

"I was told that you now carry Izanagi." When Sasuke nods in response, Itachi continues. "As do I. Therefore, you also understand the history of the people in this war, and the history of our family—our parents. Our mother handed you to me when the Senju attacked, and I ran away with you. We were in the forest, and it was raining—and—I fell. I hate myself to this day for it.

"I fell and you cried out. The Senju team had been retreating from the compound, and they heard you. They came after us. At first, I hid with you, but I had left behind footsteps in the dirt—they would see them. So I tucked you underneath the bushes for the spirits of the forest, and I ran to distract them. I already had Izanagi then, you see, but I was too young to control it. I couldn't summon his powers. I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry—"

"Itachi, if you were alive all this time," Sasuke interrupts. "Why didn't you come for me?"

His brother looks at him gently, painfully. "I wanted to, Sasuke. So much. But Izanagi and the forest spirits don't communicate, you see—they don't necessarily agree. Their histories tie them to two warring clans. In a sense, they are at war as well. I had given you to the care of the spirits for your own safety that night. If I were to have taken you back, or even have shown my face, I would have made you an Uchiha once more. You would have grown up with war. You would never have seen the spirits again, and you were safer with them. It was the choice I made."

"I was lonely."

"But safe."

A shared breath. "I carry Izanagi now—can I no longer speak to the forest spirits?"

"You cannot."

Sasuke digests this. Izanagi's story of enemy and friend makes more sense to him now. He bites his tongue, furious with himself for not having understood earlier. He wonders if he'll be able to have Naruto communicate with Matatabi for him. "How did you survive?"

"I was small and it made it easier to hide. I made my way to a small village at first. _Kaasan_ told me to never come back, to wait until the war was over—so we would be safe. She even cut _Uchiha_ off your name ribbon. I lived like a rat for a few years in a village in Suna, fighting for scraps and sleeping in alleys. Izanagi kept me from any real harm. Eventually I returned and found Shisui, who had left the Uchiha. He'd just lost his father and was tired of war. Sick of it, even. We traveled together and eventually ran into Yahiko, who took us into the Akatsuki. They were a group of war orphans, like me. He talked of forming a bridge to peace from the war. So I joined, to find that peace and eventually be able to take you back home.

"This whole time, though, I've always kept an eye on you. I saw that you were healthy, and that you had formed a friendship with the Senju boy. You were well cared for, and that was enough for me. I didn't want to intervene and mess everything up. At first, it was all good. The Uchiha shouldn't have been on Senju ground the night they found you, but Izumi had been stubborn, I guess, even though Kakashi tried to persuade her otherwise. And just like that, you were an Uchiha again, and part of the war. But the bridge to peace, Sasuke—it's the bond you share with Naruto. I strongly believe in that."

Sasuke had been listening intently. He shakes his head now, voice breaking when he speaks. "I was lonely. Naruto was always gone. I wanted a family so, so bad. I know you must've seen that, at least. I just—wanted—a family."

"I'm here now, Sasuke. I'm not going anywhere."

"You're really fucking late, _niisan_."

He can't help the smile that breaks across his face at the affectionate term. "Yeah," he laughs halfheartedly. "I am."

They talk for hours, Sasuke surprised at the ease of their conversation, the natural flow of words coming together. He tells his brother about his years in the forest, about Naruto, and then about returning to the Uchiha. Itachi tells him about the Akatsuki, the Senju, and Danzo, and Sasuke relies all he knows to him. He even tells him about the burials, the unrecognizable men who take care of the dead warriors, the sound of Danzo speaking to these men at ungodly hours of the night. Itachi nods throughout this.

When the sun begins to rise, Sasuke returns to camp. A warrior approaches him just as he is about to enter his tent and holds out a folded letter. "Danzo-sama has for summoned you, sir."

He ignores him.

* * *

"I met my brother," Sasuke says as he settles down to undo Naruto's blindfold and the rest of his binds. He sees patience in the blue eyes, pauses, then continues. "Itachi."

Sasuke visits Naruto in odd intervals—sometimes he comes at night, other times at dawn. Sometimes, Naruto will wait for days before he hears the familiar voice commanding the guards to leave. He looks forward to their meetings. Sasuke is different now, but Naruto can feel them growing closer again. With each little touch and every shared word, they regain a little semblance of the past.

When Sasuke isn't there, he sits shrouded in darkness, the gag rubbing painfully against the edges of his mouth and his arms screaming for movement in his binds. He swallows the bread placed at his lips, and gulps down water that tastes like rotten earth. When Sasuke isn't there, he pushes as much of his existence away as possible. He pushes himself into his shell of dreams, into the forest by the flowing river. Often, he tries to skip stones, but it's hard. He's tired.

In the darkness, however, he also realizes his own selfishness. This loneliness. This constant waiting. It is all Sasuke had known when they were younger, in the forest. He always took, and Sasuke always gave.

 _I was so full of myself._

Sasuke's voice pulls him out of the forest as if waking from a dream. He blinks to adjust to having his sight once more. "What?"

"Yeah," Sasuke laughs, but it sounds more like a sigh. "Long story."

"Sasuke, in case you haven't noticed, I've got all of time itself in this shit hole," Naruto stands and stretches out each of his limbs when the rest of the bonds are removed. He does a few hops to get his blood flowing and tries to ignore his soiled pants. "Do tell."

Sasuke does, when they're both seated, watching the colors of Naruto's eyes shift with every word. He wonders briefly if this is what the ocean looks like—shifting shades of blue folding into themselves over and over again. He pauses to dig out six onigiri from his pack, and hands them to Naruto, who gobbles them up heartily. He had brought two for himself to snack on, but upon seeing Naruto's hungry eyes, hands them to him instead. Naruto nods as he chews on every bite.

"Hn," he says when Sasuke is finished, too in awe for real words. He sucks on his fingers, ignoring the black underneath his fingernails.

"I know."

"You forgive him, though? For never speaking to you all those years?"

"I think so," He chews on the inside of his cheek. "I guess."

"Good." Naruto flashes him a smile, but it fades quickly. Sasuke tries to treasure it. "Ne, have you heard anything from home—from the Senju? I just—"

"Sasuke-sama, I apologize for the interruption, but Danzo has summoned you again," says one of the guards as he pokes a head into the tent. His face wrinkles at the stench. The crinkles of paper echo dully in the enclosure as he waves Danzo's letter in the air. "He is growing impatient."

Sasuke grunts in reply and the man retreats. He turns back to Naruto, who takes the cue and holds out his arms. He hates this part of their visits. Naruto takes his seat by the wooden stake once more and lets Sasuke shackle his ankles and bind his arms to his torso. Naruto looks at him, eyes swimming with trust and patience, but Sasuke sees the exhaustion behind the facade. Naruto had always been full of life. It scares him to see it fade.

"Can't you stay?"

Naruto's whisper is louder than cries in battle. He ties the rag over blue eyes. Hates himself for it. "Forgive me, Naruto."

 _Because—how can I blindfold my sky?_

* * *

His hand shakes has he reads Danzo's curved script. He sees his own name. Naruto's name. A threat to the Senju heir's life. A way out of that threat. Senju Hashirama's signature of approval. An agreement—a treaty of sorts. He pushes past Danzo's guard and shoves his way into the man's tent.

Seeing him, Danzo leans forward in the seat at his desk. "I summoned for you hours ago."

" _What is this?_ " Sasuke slams the letter onto the wooden surface, fuming when the man looks lazily up at him.

Danzo clasps his hands slowly. "Ah, that would be my victory."

"I didn't agree to this," he narrows his eyes, can feel his senses heighten as they turn red.

"No need—the Senju and I did. Arrangements have already been made. An arena will be prepared and the final battle will commence in three nights," Danzo says. "You will have these next few days off your duties to train. You are strong, Sasuke—I am confident in your ability to win the war for the Uchiha."

Sasuke looks back down at the letter on the desk. Perhaps Danzo was right—perhaps he could win the war. End it all. Peace—it's all anyone ever wants anymore.

 _A proposal for peace in a battle of the heirs._

 _Uzumaki Naruto of Senju will fight Uchiha Sasuke at the border of the ground of Uchiha and the ground of Senju._

 _Clan members shall not be armed._

 _Victory is determined when only one draws breath._

 _The victor's clan will take the Land of Fire._

 _The other will have until nightfall to depart the Land of Fire._

 _All further consequences to be determined by the victorious clan._

 _Refusal of this proposal will result in the immediate death of Uzumaki Naruto of Senju._

Shackled inside the tent, Naruto falls back into the forest to skip stones across a river, unaware of the agreement between the two clans. He tumbles out of the dream to the sounds of Sasuke arguing with the guards, then of brief fighting, then silence. Shaking his head, he declares the noise a part of his dream. Two days later, he is woken by the sound of his enclosure opening. He sits silently, expecting breakfast, not the sharp pain of something thin being plunged into his left arm. He jerks wildly, and falls back. Not into the forest, but into nothing.

* * *

"You sure about this?"

Kakashi raises his head to the red sky of a cracking dawn and takes a deep breath. The air is crisp in his lungs. He turns to appraise the two men in front of him before bending to his knee. Their dark cloaks sway softly with their breaths. He presses a hand into the cool dirt of the fresh grave. "Somewhat."

"We're about to dig up our dead cousin," Shisui says flatly. He shakes his head. "This needs to be more than just _somewhat_."

"Well 'somewhat' is the best I got at the moment."

"I trust Sasuke." Itachi sighs. "Better get started then. The sun will be up soon."

The three men carve away at the soil until they uncover the lifeless body of one of Sasuke's unit. Killed by Naruto's men. The rot had started setting in, but the evidence is clear as day. They stare at the warrior's pale face in horror.

Shisui's eyes flash red for a moment before he takes a breath, composing himself. "You were right."

"I sincerely wish I was not," Kakashi murmurs. His hands tremble in his realization. "The Akatsuki need to be on their feet during the final battle. I suspect Danzo will be making his move then."

A solemn silence falls over the men as they push the dirt back into the grave they had opened. Itachi tries to shove away the image of his dead cousin's face, with black veins spidered across pallid skin.

And gaping holes where his eyes should have been.

* * *

There is something jammed into his middle. His eyebrows furrow, and he frowns as he tries to roll away from it, but cannot. It's too heavy.

Then he notices light—pink and faded. It's warm.

He grunts, sitting up with some difficulty and realizing he is no longer blindfolded. He opens his eyes, squinting at his surroundings. He jumps to his feet in panic and almost falls back down. "What the—"

He is in a clearing in the forest, and by the looks of the blackened edges of a few trees, it's been cleared into an open area with fire. Surrounded by people—he makes out the faces of Hashirama and Tobirama among what seems to be a group of Senju warriors. Sitting. Watching him. They seem angry. Furious. They are glaring at something, and he turns around to see the Uchiha on the other side of the clearing. He recognizes Danzo, Madara, Obito, and Kakashi.

There are seats with patterns engraved into the red wood. Cushioned with silk. Hashirama and Madara are seated on opposite ends of the clearing, each surrounded by their own clan. There are no weapons in sight. Naruto's breath quickens as he realizes they are watching him—he's in an arena.

He shakes his head, rubbing his eyes as the mugginess fades away. He remembers the prick in his arm before everything faded. He had been drugged—and cleaned. Changed into his armor. His own katana, which had been taken away upon his capture, is now attached to his hip. He hears a scuff behind him and turns around.

Sasuke, clad in blue armor with a katana at his hip, emerges from the crowd of Uchiha.

Naruto stares openly at him. "What's going on?"

Sasuke almost looks sullen. "This is Danzo's proposal for peace. Our last battle."

"What?" He looks around him. "No one's fighting."

"That's because we are."

"What?"

" _We_ are the last battle, Naruto." Sasuke says. "It was a signed agreement. As the known heirs to our clans, we are to fight until only one of us draws breath. The victor claims the Land of Fire, and the other must leave—"

"No," Naruto locks eyes with Danzo, enraged. "Why wasn't I informed? I was drugged and thrown here. I refuse. You hear that? No."

"Naruto—"

"You signed my fate away." Naruto's eyes turn to regard his clan. "Tell me, was it easy?"

Hashirama closes his eyes. "They threatened to kill you, Naruto, if we did not. We had no choice."

Naruto considers this. "Did you know about this?" Blue eyes fix on Sasuke. "You didn't think to tell me? No one thought to _let me know_? Instead, I'm put to sleep?"

Sasuke swallows. "I didn't know until after it was all signed—I tried to, but they wouldn't let me—I'm sorry—"

 _You could have burned them. Then we'd be free,_ he thinks, but reprimands himself for even considering the idea. He charges forward until his breath washes over Sasuke's face. His eyes narrow. "I trusted you."

Sasuke hesitates for a moment, facade almost breaking, but collects himself quickly. He chooses his next words carefully, softly. "If we fight, we'll save lives and bloodshed. It'll just be the two of us. Then the war will end and in the future—boys like us can be friends, and a name wouldn't change a thing. We are the bridge to peace."

"It's not peace if one of our clans is going to lose its home, teme!" He snarls, then considers the situation. Sasuke waits. Naruto's face falls when he finally understands. Just one more life. One more. It'll all be over.

 _A name wouldn't change a thing._

He turns and faces his clan—his family and friends. Hashirama and Tobirama. Ero-sennin. There's Lee, Sakura, Karin. Neji, who nods at him despite the fact Naruto had held a blade to his throat. And Kiba. Tenten. Shikamaru. Chouji, who still owes him ramen. His mother, in battle armor. He had known she could fight, but had never seen her in armor. He hopes she will never find reason to wear it again.

 _You would all be safe. Just one more life. One more._

Naruto turns back to Sasuke, eyes focused on his chest. He cannot look him in the eyes as he draws his katana from its sheath. It shines in the sun like a promise. He smiles down at it. "Perhaps in another life, ne, Sasuke? We wouldn't have to be Senju and Uchiha, then. We'd just be Naruto and Sasuke."

Naruto looks up to see the pain in Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke smiles sadly at him, as if in reassurance. He breaks the gaze after a long moment and inhales, widening his stance. With his exhale, he pushes Sasuke out of his mind.

Him. His katana. The enemy. The same dance of three as always. Kurama is hot inside him, and he feels his spirit come alive just as the glow of Izanagi rises from within the enemy.

He meets his mother's eyes. Steady. Fierce.

 _It was never a question of Sasuke or Senju. It was always Senju. It would always be Senju._

The enemy counters his first blow. Naruto keeps his eyes trained to his chest—blue in armor.

 _Uchiha. Enemy._

He pushes the blade out, making enough space for him to spin and kick his opponent away. The other man flies back, but lands on a foot and uses the leverage to throw himself forward again as if he is dancing. Three shuriken fly towards him as he is raising his sword against the blade coming down. Naruto manages to dodge two, but one lodges itself in his thigh. He yanks it out with a grunt. Kurama's spirit sets to closing the wound.

The enemy is a flurry of glowing indigo. He moves with amazing speed, and Naruto is surprised—he has never fought anyone who has been able to keep up with him and Kurama in their most fiery of moments. Naruto flies across the arena, picking up the three shuriken from earlier and throwing them at the opponent in quick succession. They become engulfed in black flames before they hit and wither to the ground.

He counters another strike with his katana, then another and another. Coming at him from all sides. He blocks a kick to his head with his arm and catches the ankle. Pulls to throw his opponent off balance. The man spins midair and lands a kick to his face with his other foot. Blood fills his mouth when he bites his tongue. He releases his hold on the ankle.

The two heirs fight blade to blade for hours, running on sheer will and determination. They never look one another in the face. The grace of the fight eventually fades into clumsy dodges and hurried strikes. Naruto punches his opponent in his left ear, breaking the eardrum from the pressure, and kicks his ankle. The Uchiha lands on his side, his katana flying out of his grasp. Naruto raises his own katana, then sees the black flames licking its blade. Enraged, he plunges his sword down. The enemy tries to turn. The katana makes its way into his shoulder, between the thick metal plates of his armor. He twists it, and the flames disappear. His opponent yells in pain and anger.

 _That voice_.

Blue eyes rise from the armored chest to meet an ebony gaze, seeing the furrow of dark brows and the sweat that has his hair plastered to his face. His face, scrunched in agony. Blood drips from his left ear.

Sasuke. In agony.

Naruto chokes on his heart. In his pause, Sasuke yanks the sword from his own shoulder with a grunt and throws it to the side. He throws himself up and forward, his shoulder screaming when he lands a second time on the ground, hovering over Naruto. His broken eardrum threatens to break his head with its piercing throb. The spirits of Izanagi and Kurama flare at the edges where they touch.

Sasuke punches him across the jaw. Hard.

The punch splits his lip. Metal fills his mouth again. He yells and throws a fist into Sasuke's face. Pulls his leg in and kicks the man off him so they're both on the ground—on their hands and knees—chests heaving as their lungs pull in the humid summer air.

 _For Senju._

He barrels into Sasuke so they are rolling in the dirt of the arena, pummeling his fists into his gut, his face, his shoulder. He dents the blue amor. Widens the shoulder wound. Sasuke roars, grabs him by the head, and knees him in the face. Naruto is sure his nose is broken. With a cry, he slams his forehead into Sasuke's. Grabs his long, dark hair and does it again. And again. And again.

 _For Senju._

Naruto's vision flickers out for a second. His body aches. Sweat falls from his skin like rain. He realizes that neither of them are glowing with their spirits any longer. "Why us?"

 _I'm so tired._

He rams his head into Sasuke's again, but the movement is clumsy and their noses slide against one another. He winces at the pain. " _Why?_ "

 _I'm so tired, Sasuke._

He looks at the blood painted across Sasuke's face, and then lightly rests his forehead against his. Sasuke—his Sasuke from the forest—squeezes his eyes shut in anticipation of more pain and Naruto aches. Sasuke opens his eyes.

"I don't know."

 _Your eyes are like a summer night on fire. With a splash of stars. Funny—they were the first things I noticed about you. Oh, Sasuke. There was Senju, but there was always you, too._

"I did this to you," he tries to breathe, running his fingers over the blood and the bruises on Sasuke's face. His lungs grasp at the air like the claws of a predator into prey. He feels like he is inhaling Sasuke, pulling him into himself. It reminds him of the waves of the ocean, gripping at the earth in handfuls. "Sasuke—I'm tired. Na, Sasuke? Maybe we never really understood each other. Me—I was stuck between family and you. Always stuck, but now I'm tired. I'm really, really tired. I don't want to be stuck anymore."

 _It was Senju for the future Commander, but for me—for my heart—I choose you, Sasuke. For a future where a name wouldn't change a thing._

He reaches down and plucks a kunai from the strap on Sasuke's leg. Holds it to his own throat. He closes his eyes. _Inhale._ He thinks he hears his mother scream his name. _Exhale_. The edge of the blade meets skin and he feels the warm trickle of blood—

" _Don't you dare_ ," Sasuke hisses. Naruto opens his eyes and finds that the blood he feels is not his own. Sasuke grips the blade of the kunai in his fingers. "Don't you fucking dare leave me like that, Naruto. _Stay_."

He smiles. "One more life, ne? Then it'll all be over." Naruto feels heat push against his eyes. His heart hurts. Sasuke's wet knuckles against his throat hurts. In his hesitation, Sasuke slides a needle-thin blade from his sleeve and holds it to his own throat.

"No, Sasuke."

"That's not fair now, is it?"

" _No_. Sasuke, please."

They must be quite a sight, Naruto realizes. Uchiha and Senju on the ground, each threatening to take his own life. Each begging the other not to.

"When we were only boys," Sasuke murmurs. The corners of his lips lift up into a gentle, pained smile. "All you ever wanted was to be Senju commander. Naruto, how will you do that if you die?"

Naruto looks into those eyes again, seeing that they had turned to their familiar black, and his chest threatens to burst.

 _He's always so beautiful when he smiles._

It pushes and pushes and tears well up in his eyes and a sob escapes his throat. Naruto touches his forehead against Sasuke's again, overwhelmed, and whispers—

 _Stay_.

"Sasuke, you can't—because I— _I love you_. I love you and you can't leave. Okay?"

" _Usuratonkachi_." Sasuke yanks the kunai from Naruto's grip and throws it to the edge of the arena. Naruto pulls away the thin blade and falls weakly at his side. Facing him, he brings his hands—one quivering and bleeding, the other strong and steady—to Naruto's cheeks. He tries for a laugh. It comes out broken. "Try that again and I'll kill you myself."

In his hold, Naruto breaks into pieces the way the sun breaks into fragmented flecks across the forest floor. His sobs rack through his body, shaking the Senju and the Uchiha, who stare at the heirs, unable to comprehend the scene. Naruto reaches out for him, a smile rising through his tears. His quiet laugh shakes him like the wind. "Teme—"

Something falls across his cheeks. Wet. Warm. Lands in his open mouth. A metallic tang. Sasuke jerks underneath his hands and coughs up a mouthful of blood. " _Naruto_ —"

Naruto looks down and feels himself tear at the seams, thread by thread. The tip of an arrow protrudes from Sasuke's middle, broken straight through his armor. His breath comes in rapid gasps. "No, no, no no _no_."

Naruto sits up and gathers Sasuke into his arms, cradling his mess of dark hair to his chest. He breaks the arrowhead off and pulls the rest out from Sasuke's back. Sasuke jerks, coughs up more blood, and Naruto holds him tighter, pressing his hand against the wound. The blood gushes through his fingers and the armor is slippery to the touch. "No, Sasuke. You can't. That's not fair, you said. Okay? Don't go, Sasuke—please, oh, _please_ —don't leave. Stay, _okay_? I stayed. _Sasuke,_ _please_."

"I'm staying," he tries, but it comes out shattered with gasps and blood. Sasuke grips Naruto's forearm and offers him a tight-lipped smile. Naruto runs his fingers across his cheek, but ends up smearing his blood across his face. He looks at his own hand, soaked in the red of the boy from the forest. Looks at Sasuke's left hand, ragged and cut to save him from the kunai he had turned to himself. He sees but doesn't see. His vision fades and then focuses as the tear inside him builds itself into blind rage. Blue eyes raise to see a masked man across the arena, bow in hand. The glow of his spirit explodes like the birth of the sun and dances around him like wild flames.

Sasuke closes his eyes against the light in his hands.

 _Stay._

* * *

He doesn't quite comprehend what happens after the heat of his anger consumes him. There are glimpses of white, then a focus on the masked man. Sasuke grips at his arms as he moves away. Anger spins inside him. He picks his katana up from the ground, stands and faces the masked man. More masked figures appear from behind the trees. They remind him of the sketches he had seen in his childhood scrolls and books. Myths. Not real, but real.

In a flash of golden light, Naruto reaches the man and backhands the mask from his face. His hand closes around his throat. The eyes of the man are red. His voice is still, quiet when he speaks. "Why?"

The man's eyes flicker briefly to someone behind him. A plea. Naruto flicks his head back to follow the gaze to Danzo. It clicks. He yanks the man's tongue from his throat and tosses him to the ground. He advances on Danzo.

"The Shimura shall rise." Danzo raises a hand—almost lazily—and the arena fills with the screams of battle. Red flickers from beneath the masks as they slaughter the unarmed Uchiha and Senju. He sees the red clouds of dark cloaks flow out of the forest to their aid.

 _ **Careful, Naruto.**_

Naruto ignores him and relinquishes control. Kurama's spirit consumes him. The Sun of Senju leaps into the masked men, blinded by anger and pain, painting his skin with blood that is not his own. He flies through the fight at incomparable speed, growling and screaming. Naruto sees Tobirama with a brutally cut shoulder, holding out his arm to block an attack from hitting Kushina's back as she sends a warrior flying with a kick. He runs to them. The man is dead before the blade comes down. He does this over and over, ending lives with his bare hands after his katana is knocked out of his grasp, until the last masked man falls. Danzo howls as Hashirama grabs him and Madara holds a Shimura katana to his throat. He stares at Naruto in disbelief.

Exhaustion settles over his heart. He is tired at the same time that he isn't.

Naruto turns back and finds Sasuke curled into a black pool of his own blood, still. He goes to him, folding him into his arms, and shakes him lightly. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyelids flutter and the edges of his mouth lift. "Hn?"

Naruto releases the breath caught in his throat. He presses his lips to Sasuke's sweaty hairline. "Hold on, okay?"

He shifts Sasuke onto his own back. He looks at his mother. Sees her mouth the word _go_ , and runs. No one calls out to him.

* * *

Love is an unfamiliar thing to Sakura. She's had her fair share of late nights curled into the warmth of a Senju warrior, legs tangled into the sheets. Of stolen kisses and shy smiles. But she knows it has never been love.

Tsunade had asked her to stay behind to watch over the patients in the Senju Infirmary, and she had obeyed, dedicated to her duties as a medic. She aches to support Naruto in the last battle of heirs, but her presence is needed more here. It's quieter than usual in the compound, with the majority of the warrior out to watch the battle. A few dozen had stayed behind in case Danzo had other plans.

When all the patients have been tended to for the time being, Sakura sets to rearranging the supply cabinets. She frowns—the junior medics always seem to leave a mess of the clean towels—

"Sakura-chan!" The front door of the infirmary slides open with a slam that shakes the entire building. She turns her head at the familiar voice in disbelief. "Sakura-chan— _please_ —help him."

Naruto lumbers into the room, blood streaked in his face and hair. His golden armor is now mostly red. He has a dark-haired warrior on his back, seemingly asleep in blue armor—

Uchiha?

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" She runs over to him as he is setting the Uchiha down on an empty bed. "What's going on?"

"Just help him," Naruto pleads. He holds the Uchiha's face in his shaking hands, trying to smooth the black hair back. His voice falls to a whisper. "Please."

Senju or not, a patient is a patient.

"Remove his clothing," Sakura stands by the Uchiha to assess his situation. She takes in the deep gashes on his left hand, the dried blood caked around his left ear, the fresh blood seeping from his stomach and shoulder. His lips are almost white. "He's losing too much blood. I need to get him stable."

Naruto shakes his head and begins to talk to himself, still hovering over the warrior. He sounds like he's stuck between arguing and pleading. Irritated, Sakura pushes him away from the Uchiha, ignoring his whimper, and sets to work.

She is patching up the stomach wound when Naruto returns to the table, calmer than before. She notices that his nose is crooked, swollen, and stretches over to reset it. He yowls at the sudden crack and swats her away. Satisfied, Sakura returns to her patient.

She is about to kick Naruto in the groin when he presses his hand over the Uchiha's stomach wound and ruins her handiwork, but settles for staring in awe when his hand glows a pale gold. The tears of the skin repair themselves. When he removes his hand, the wound is still tender, but closed. He moves on to the shoulder, then the ear, and finally the hand. To make herself useful, Sakura cleans up the shallower cuts and prepares a healing ointment to spread atop the wounds. Questions spin in her head, but melt at Naruto's distress. She won't bother him now.

"You should get cleaned up," she says. "I'll tend to him."

Naruto hesitates.

"He'll be fine. Thanks to you," Sakura nods towards the door while rubbing the ointment into the Uchiha's skin. "Go on."

Naruto returns later, clean of blood and grit. The pack strapped across his chest is bulging. She doesn't question him, just hands him a smaller bundle of basic medical supplies. He smiles. "I knew I could rely on you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura watches as Naruto bends over the Uchiha warrior to run a finger along a bloody cheekbone. His movement is tender, soft even. Uzumaki Naruto of Senju had always been a boisterous warrior, full of bursting energy and quick movements. She had never seen him settle down to anything as quiet and gentle as the way he holds the Uchiha when he runs a wet towel over his skin, or in the way he redresses him in clean clothing, lightly sliding the silk over his wounds. His stormy blue eyes quiet to a summer sky in the way he gazes at him.

With Sakura's help, Naruto hauls the Uchiha onto his back. The patient isn't in the best state for movement, but she knows better than to argue with Naruto on this point. The heir has his mind set on something.

"Thank you." Naruto kisses her cheek before he sets out again. As she watches them leave, she tells herself— _this must be what love is_.


	8. Part 7: The Ocean

A/N: Hello! Sorry about the late update-classes are finishing up and it's been hectic. I wasn't sure how I wanted to end this chapter either, and it took me a while before I was satisfied. But here you go-lots of Sasuke and Naruto lovin' to come! And as always, thank you for the reviews.

Warning: Naruto and Sasuke are finally together. Romping ensues.

* * *

 **Part 7: The Ocean**

Most of the time, there is blackness. A sky of it. Sometimes, there are soft clouds of orange and yellow. It reminds Sasuke of the sunset.

 _I love you_. _Stay_.

It rains sometimes, too, from those sunset clouds, and the drops fall down his cheeks in hot streaks. The rain is heavy, each drop of water full and generous. He licks his lips. The rain tastes of salt. Whenever there are the clouds, there is also the thunder. It's not the loud kind that breaks the sky, but the soft one, rolling and rolling through him. Whispering to him.

I _love you so much_.

Familiar in some way, but he cannot place it. He trembles, feels life inside him burst open with warmth. It fills him. Then the sky is blue, and he revels in its clarity. Smiles, and feels himself fade away. The sky does not turn blue again.

 _Please, wake up. Please_.

Most of the time, the sky is black.

It is still black when unfamiliar sounds of soft things crashing and slamming into each other meets his ears. He scrunches his face, trying to turn away from it. Can't. He lays there for a moment, registering that the ache in his left ear is gone and that he can hear just fine. He realizes he can open his eyes, and is greeted by a whiskered cheek. The repetition of deep breaths fanning over his face tells him that Naruto is asleep, face pressed into a makeshift pillow. He tries to sit up. Pain lances through his shoulder and stomach. It's dull, but enough to have him flop back down on the blankets in surprise.

Sasuke tries again, pushing his weight to his uninjured arm and then to his knees. Slowly, slowly. He sees that he has been cleaned and changed. Wounds patched up, healed for the most part. His left hand is wrapped in cloth. It's hard to move his fingers. He looks over to see a few packs of food. Two rabbits, skinned. Piles of clean rags and dirtied rags, stained red and yellow. His ears grow hot when he realizes that Naruto had been cleaning him, blood and waste and all. He turns his head away. Sunlight gently peeks in from the opening of the rocky tavern they seem to be in. Sunlight. He craves it. On his feet, he waves a bit before steadying himself against the wall.

 _How long have I been out?_

The air smells like salt. He realizes the crashing sound is still there and leans his weight against the cold walls as he makes his way to the opening. His bare feet skid softly against the ground. He stretches a hand out, huffing as he pushes aside the dangling greenery, then feels the wind pushing against him and—

It's blue. Deeply so. Vast and wide. Deafeningly loud without the curtain of moss muffling the sound. Wild. Rising and rising before falling back down with a crash as it laps against the earth. It reminds him of the river in the forest—but it's just so big. So blue. He looks down and sees that all he would have to do to reach the beach and sink his feet in is to climb down the few boulders leading into the cave. Then he could touch it—the ocean.

He lowers himself to his bottom, rests his feet on the boulder slightly below, and pushes himself towards it until he is sitting on the rock. Then stretches his legs out to the next one and does it again. His shoulder aches more with each new boulder, but he only looks at the waves of the ocean and keeps going. Again, again, again. Until he sinks his feet into the warm sand. He lifts his face into the sun and sighs.

The sun is hot against his skin, but the water is cool. He's standing in the foaming waves, a smile breaking across his face when he realizes—

— _I'm connected to the whole world_.

The waves are belligerent with one another farther out, but here it's gentler. Licking at his ankles with each arrival and retreat. He touches a finger to the water and puts it in his mouth. Grimaces at the unexpected saltiness. He had always imagined it would taste sweet, if not bland, like the river.

"You're finally up." He looks up to see Naruto standing at the opening of the cave, holding the moss curtain aside with one hand and rubbing sleep from his eyes with the other. Sasuke smiles at him, and he bounces down the boulders, holding out his arms to embrace him, then hesitating at the last moment.

 _I've hurt you_ , is all Sasuke reads in big, blue eyes. He cuffs him in the head.

"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke says to Naruto's confused grimace and leaps in Naruto's arms with all the energy he can muster.

He feels Naruto smile, face buried against his neck. "Hey, you."

"Hello," he says, taking a moment to breathe Naruto in. Then remembers where they are, and what he had just done. "I touched the ocean."

Naruto releases him, shaking with laughter that makes his heart lift. He had missed this laugh. "And how did it feel?"

"Good," says Sasuke. He looks at the line where the ocean seems to meet the sky. Breathes in the salt of the air. "It felt good."

Whiskered cheeks curve into a brilliant smile that Sasuke wants to fall into. Naruto shows him how to lay on the beach so that the ocean comes up every few seconds to touch their heels. Some movements are still hard on Sasuke, but Naruto helps him ease his back to the ground. Then he settles down next to him. He reaches to his right and links his pinky finger with Naruto's.

Sasuke turns his face to him and finds a calm, steady gaze. They take each other in, as if trying to make up for the years of longing and absence in a moment. Neither of them speak as they listen to the crashing of the ocean. Sasuke feels as if his chest is about to burst.

"Tell me about the ocean," he says, watching golden eyebrows raise in surprise. When he feels a teasing comment about to surface, he nudges the hand linked with his. " _Naruto_."

"Okay, okay."

And Naruto does. When he is done, Sasuke tells him that he thinks the ocean really does sing. To the earth. Then he cups his hand around the back of Naruto's neck and presses their lips together.

This time, it isn't all crashing teeth and spilling rain. It's soft and hesitant underneath the bright sun, full of the pain and hatred of war. The feel of Naruto's mouth on his is both frighteningly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. When Naruto pulls away, Sasuke opens his eyes to find tears running down whiskered cheeks.

"I love you, Sasuke," Naruto sniffles through his smile, voice trembling, and traces his thumb down Sasuke's jaw. "So much—kept telling you, but you were—out—and I was so scared, Sasuke. That you would leave me."

With the heat of the sand pressing against him and the chill of the waves kissing at his heels, Sasuke decides that the sky is almost as blue as Naruto's eyes.

* * *

When the sun falls beneath the ocean, Naruto and Sasuke build a fire inside their cave and set to roasting the rabbits staked onto two daggers. As they feast, Naruto tells Sasuke the story of the past six days—the Shimura clan's attack, the Akatsuki, Hashirama and Madara working together to catch Danzo, who had called forth the Shimura in the first place. He tells him of returning home, of Sakura, then of Kurama and Izanagi's new friendship, after the spell of the war had broken. He tells Sasuke of how he carried him on his back for days on end, finding shelter underneath trees and begging Sasuke to wake up. Feeling hopeful each time Sasuke became somewhat conscious and afraid each time he drifted back into the black. When a pile of rabbit bones sit in the dying flames, Naruto gently touches Sasuke's shoulder and tells him of how Kurama had healed him. He kisses the shoulder and apologizes, and Sasuke punches him with his good hand and tells him that there is nothing to apologize for. Then Naruto is laughing because when they kiss, Sasuke tastes like rabbit.

Pressed into one another on the ground, Naruto tells Sasuke of the trek to the ocean. He presses his mouth behind Sasuke's red-tinted ear and sucks, smiling when he melts underneath his grasp. Sasuke finds that it's becoming harder to listen to how Naruto had to feed him while he faded in and out of consciousness. Naruto tries for a light bite to the shell of his ear, and Sasuke jerks up against him. " _Ah_ —"

He pulls back instantly to look Sasuke in the eye. "Did that hurt?"

"No," Sasuke suddenly finds interest in the ceiling of the cave. Naruto watches his chest rise and fall in quivering pants.

Naruto's worried eyes almost burrow into his own.

"Felt good," Sasuke mutters.

"Heh, your ears are red again," Naruto snickers, flicking an earlobe. Sasuke flicks his forehead.

He presses his lips against Sasuke's and tells him how much he hates hunting, that it took forever to catch the two rabbits they'd eaten for dinner. Sasuke laughs but then Naruto sucks on the earlobe that he had flicked earlier and his breath escapes him. " _Naruto_ —"

And he is there, drinking in his name. He rolls his hips against Sasuke's. Slow, hesitant. Sasuke arches into him with a broken inhale, gripping handfuls of his yukata until the cloth threatens to tear. Naruto stills, his breath coming in gasps against Sasuke's face. "Was that okay?"

"It will always be okay with you," he whispers and pulls Naruto to him. He wants to pull him into his heart.

He lies on Sasuke like a heavy, heated blanket, pushing his hips down again and again. Somehow Naruto's hands make their way underneath Sasuke's yukata to slide over his side, his back. They grasp at his hip, strong and reassuring, then move up to run over a toned chest. A calloused thumb slides against a brown nipple. Sasuke jerks. Watching him, Naruto rolls it between his thumb and forefinger, and Sasuke curves upward, his mouth falling open in a surprised yell. His stomach wound is aching, but he's never felt like this before—so wanted and needed in the way Naruto murmurs his name against his lips—that it's okay if it hurts. Sasuke runs the fingers of his good hand through the tousled, golden hair and pulls, watching the way Naruto gasps and looks at him with those blue, blue eyes. "Oh _fuck_ —Sasuke."

At Sasuke's smirk, Naruto rolls his hips and presses his lips to that spot behind his ear and sucks until Sasuke cries out and shudders against him. Watching Sasuke come apart, he pushes forward again and again until he feels the tension inside him burst. "Sasuke, _Sasuke_."

"I'm here," Sasuke hums and kisses his temple.

Naruto feels sticky underneath his clothing, but Sasuke wraps around him in the light of the dying fire, trying to collect his breath. "What just happened?"

"Did you like it?" He can't help the smirk growing on his face, and pokes a red ear. "Red again."

"It's just the firelight!" Sasuke smacks his hand away with a pout and tries to tuck himself into Naruto's neck.

"Uh huh, uh huh." Naruto rolls his eyes dramatically. He pushes Sasuke back to blow a raspberry on the exposed skin of his chest until Sasuke, howling with laughter, tries to shove him off. Relentless, Naruto grabs his face and showers it with raspberries. Raspberries turn into butterfly kisses. Howls into giggles.

"Very much," Sasuke gasps at a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"What?"

"I liked it—very much."

Naruto tries to kiss the other corner of Sasuke's mouth, but Sasuke turns his head toward him at the last moment. He smiles against him, a glowing hand heavy against his abdomen. His wound tingles as it heals.

* * *

Naruto wakes with a gasp, bolting upright. His body trembles. He looks at his hands, but sees only darkness. " _No, no, no. Stop_."

"Naruto?" Sasuke is up immediately, pulling him into him. Naruto resists. Keeps trying to look at his hands.

"Blood," he cries. " _So much blood_."

Turning his eyes on, Sasuke gently takes Naruto's shaking hands in his own. "No—look—they're clean. No blood."

"There is. Sasuke, you have no idea. When that arrow went through you, I thought you were going to die," Naruto whimpers. "I thought you were going to die, and I was so angry. I couldn't even see. I killed all of them. I did."

Sasuke pulls at him again, and he finally relents. He rocks him slowly. "You protected us. They were going to kill us all, and you saved everyone."

He lays back and feels Naruto curl his face into his neck. _He finds comfort in me. He did this to himself, for me. Me_. His heart aches. "Naruto. I love you. No matter what happens, I love you. Okay?"

"I love you, too," Naruto sniffles weakly, then huffs a laugh. "Heh, I've been crying a lot, huh?"

"We'll fix that." Sasuke pushes him back to press soft kisses onto wet eyelids. Sniffles turn into laughter as he nuzzles a whiskered cheek. _I love you so much._

* * *

"I'm sorry," Naruto says as he lightly skips from one boulder to another. He sways backward as he lands, and pinwheels his arms to right his balance. The ocean claws at the cliffside as he bends over to inspect a tide pool.

"What?" Sasuke joins him with a graceful leap.

An orange starfish sits serenely in the pool, and Naruto dips a finger into the water to poke at it. It flinches at his prodding. After a moment, he turns his head to Sasuke, their noses a hair's width apart. "I never realized how selfish I was—back then. You were always waiting, weren't you? All you wanted was something—someone—to go back to, and I couldn't even give you that."

"Naruto—"

"The thing is—I thought I did."

"We were young. Stupid and young. Hell, I've barely just figured out what I want. How could I have known back then?" Sasuke firmly plants his lips on Naruto's then. "You have given me so much, Naruto. I know now that all I want is you."

"Still, Sasuke, I'm sorry," Naruto turns back to the starfish, running his finger along its bumps.

"There's nothing to forgive," Sasuke murmurs. He reaches down to touch the starfish, eyebrows coming together at the feel of it. "What's this?"

"A starfish," Naruto says. Then a small crab scrambles its way out of a crevice, and he snatches it up. "Look! He's so cute."

The crab takes the skin of Naruto's fingers into his pinchers and squeezes angrily. Naruto yelps, immediately dropping him. The crab lands expertly and scrambles along the rocks into another crevice. Sasuke laughs as Naruto flaps his hand in the air. "Cute, but fierce."

"Like you," Naruto waggles his eyebrows.

He punches him in the shoulder. "I am not cute."

"Oh, but you are," Naruto smiles at him. "Your fluffy hair is cute, and your dark eyes and your pretty mouth and your chin. Especially your chin."

"My chin?" Sasuke pretends the heat on his cheeks is from the sun. He gestures with his hand for Naruto to go on. "But please, do continue."

"I love the point of your chin. Love it, love it," Naruto reaches out to run a wet finger along his chin. He kisses his nose. "And I love you, so much that I feel like my heart will burst."

"You know," Sasuke cannot help the smile that breaks across his face. "When I was injured, I dreamed of the sky. It was blue. And there was the sun. Sometimes it rained, and it tasted of salt." He rests his hand on Naruto's cheek. "But it was you, wasn't it? You."

Naruto gravely recalls his journey to the ocean. He had been so afraid that Sasuke would give out, and had begged him to stay.

"Naruto, you are my sun and my sky and I love you with all that I am."

Naruto kisses him then, the pain of his pinched hand forgotten with the feel of Sasuke's mouth on his. He pulls away with a smack, flicking the dark hair away from Sasuke's face. "I'm hungry."

Naruto launches off the side of the boulders with a whoop. Sasuke almost gives himself whiplash with the speed at which he turns his head, mouth hanging open as he watches Naruto flail his arms in the air as he falls. The waves below engulf him in its foaming mouth. A golden head breaks the surface and bobs along the water like a reflection of the sun.

"Are you coming?"

Sasuke frowns at his distance from the water. It's a far leap. "Usuratonkachi!"

"Scared?"

"No!"

Sasuke shakes his head and flings himself over the edge. He is not used to falling for so long, but just before the wind steals his breath, the cold of the sea washes over him. His legs kick powerfully to propel him to the surface and he breaks to find Naruto swimming over to him.

 _I hope he never stops smiling like that._

"Let's fish!"

He raises an eyebrow. "You're terrible at that."

"So you fish. I'll watch." Naruto is so close to him that he can feel his breath wash over his face with the shake of his laughter. When he rolls his eyes, Naruto gives him a salty peck on the lips and pouts. "Please?"

Sasuke tries and fails to hide his laugh with a dramatic sigh. "Fine."

"Love you."

"You better," he smacks Naruto over the head and dives under. At first, it's difficult—the fish are quicker here than they are in the river, and he's a bit out of practice. But the feeling of water on his skin is familiar, and his eyes turn the blur of the water into the clarity of air. It doesn't take him long to catch two fat fish—his skill from the days by the river hadn't completely disappeared. There are some things one will never forget. He strips off his yukata and bundles up the fish.

The waves push him towards the beach by their cave, and he carefully digs his feet into the sand for balance in the turbulent water. He falls twice, barely holding on to his heavy kimono, which is soaking wet and heaving with the flopping fish inside. Naruto waits ashore by a small fire he had set up, waving.

The fish are killed and piked swiftly, their scales soon browning and curling under the tongues of the fire. Sasuke lays his wet yukata on the warm sand and settles himself down by Naruto, who throws an arm around his shoulders and hands him one of the fish. His hair drips cold water onto Naruto's sun-kissed skin. He takes a hearty bite. "It's good."

"Mhm," Naruto chews a mouthful of his own fish, then turns his head to look at the sky, pondering. "I wonder what everyone is doing back home."

"Probably recuperating," Sasuke says. Upon seeing Naruto's worried face, adds, "It'll be okay."

"It's just—weird—I mean, I've been a part of this war since I was born, and suddenly I'm not. I should have stayed behind to help."

"We already played our parts. I'm sure Madara-sama and Hashirama-sama will handle the rest."

"Did you know they used to be friends?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow, too busy eating to speak.

"Jiraiya told me when we were traveling. They met in the forest when they were boys—like we did, but their fathers found out. There was a terrible confrontation. From then on, no Senju could leave the compound without explicit permission. And later, Hashirama-ojisama's two younger brothers were killed in the war. So no one spoke of it anymore."

"The war almost broke us, too," says Sasuke. He turns to look at Naruto. "What do you think will happen when we go back?"

Golden eyebrows are furrowed in concentration. Naruto's chewing slows before he finally swallows. "I held a blade to Neji's neck. I'm not sure if I'm trustworthy enough to be commander anymore. And then there's your brother—he's alive—"

"I mean for us, Naruto," Sasuke gestures between them. "We can't exactly… produce heirs."

"Does that matter to you?"

"No, but—"

"Then that's that. Sasuke, nothing is ever going to keep me from you." Naruto's face grows serious. "So let's not worry needlessly, alright? We're going to stay here for now. Later will be later."

The tension in his shoulders fall at those words, and he relaxes into Naruto's side. With the sun hot against his skin, he takes another bite of fish. "Okay."

* * *

The air is cool against his back, bringing him out of his slumber. He opens his eyes, seeing that it is dark beyond the curtain of moss that hides them from the outside world. They had feasted on fish and oysters for the majority of the day, and had fallen asleep just as the sun began to set.

The sounds of the churning ocean calm him now. He stretches out, sliding a hand against the blankets in search of Naruto's warmth and finding only emptiness. He frowns.

"Naruto?"

Only the ocean answers his call. Panic yanks him from the final grasps of sleep.

"Naruto?" He tries again. Pushes himself onto his elbows, ignoring the dull pain of his shoulder. Blinks, eyes red. His breath comes to him in small lungfuls.

Then he hears the pattering of bare feet on the other end of the cave. He whips his head around and sees Naruto walking towards him, hair plastered against his head in its wetness. The brilliant smile melts away his panic. Blonde eyebrows furrow when Naruto sees the color of his eyes. "Hey, you okay?"

He stammers, sitting up and rubbing his forehead with a palm. "Yeah."

Naruto kneels beside him and plants a kiss on his forehead. He can't help the timid smile that blooms on his face. "I want to show you something."

He protests. "It's the middle of the night—"

Naruto is already pulling him up by the arm—gently—and taking him deeper into the cave. It's odd, to hold Naruto's hand when they're only walking. He revels in its steadiness, in the awareness of what this simple action means.

The stone is smoother the farther in they go, and as they round a corner, moonlight fills the darkness. The ceiling of the cave opens to reveal the crescent moon and a night full of stars. Underneath the opening is a small pool of clear water. It shines a light blue. Sasuke stands in awe, feeling the fresh air embrace him. He releases Naruto's hand and walks to the edge of the pool, seeing the moon and his face on its still surface—

"Oi!" Sasuke shakes his head, temporarily blinded by water when Naruto launches gracelessly into the pool.

Naruto's deep laugh echoes off the walls of the cave as he pats the water with his palms. "Come on!"

Sasuke rubs the water from his eyes and focuses his gaze on him, waist-deep in the pool. His eyes travel down the toned torso, following the line of hair tracing down his—

"Like what you see?" Naruto slaps water at him and waggles his eyebrows. " _Come on_! It feels good."

His mouth drops open. He ignores his rapid heartbeat. "You're going to watch me undress?"

Whiskered cheeks curve around a sly smile.

"Turn around."

A groan, as Naruto throws his head back and draws out each word in his mini tantrum. "Not like I've never seen you before, Sasuke."

"Turn around!"

Blue eyes catch the white, trembling hands. His face softens as he turns his back to him. "Fine."

Sasuke turns around just for good measure, and peels his yukata off as quickly as he can with his nerves. He steps into the water and makes his way over to Naruto, sighing as the familiar coolness presses at his skin. "Okay."

Naruto turns to him and holds his face in his hands. "Na, Sasuke," he says, running his thumb over his cheekbone. "Do you see that sky?"

They both tilt their heads up. "Yeah."

"It reminds me of your eyes."

Sasuke hums, his smile crushed against his cheeks in Naruto's hold.

"I love your eyes."

"You don't like when they're red, though," Sasuke says. He feels petty for bringing this up, but bitterly remembers the night he found his family and lost Naruto. He remembers the way warm blue had hardened to ice with two words.

 _Your eyes._

"Yes, I do," Naruto's eyes are warm now, and he kisses Sasuke soundly. "I love everything about you, Sasuke. Everything beautiful and everything ugly."

Sasuke wraps himself around Naruto and buries his nose in his neck. "I love you, too. All of you. Don't ever leave me again, okay? Promise?"

"I'm staying. I promise."

He kisses Naruto hungrily, bringing his hands into his hair and pressing their bodies together. The water laps at his skin the way Naruto laps at his mouth. Desperate. Needing.

 _I love you._

Remembering Naruto's earlier ministrations, Sasuke brings his hand between them and tweaks a nipple. Naruto jolts against him, holds him closer. Blonde eyebrows knit together. He steps forward, again and again, until Naruto's back is pressing into the edge of the pool, stone digging into his skin. Tan hands grab at his shoulder and his waist, heated. Sasuke pulls back a little, hearing their breathing settle down. He runs his fingers along the scars on Naruto's torso, tracing jagged paths and remembering their argument over the war in the forest. He smiles. "I was so stupid—it was all real, huh. The war was so real—"

"And now it's over." Naruto's hand covers his just as he traces a light scar over his chest. He feels his heart pulse underneath his touch.

Alive.

Sasuke looks into the steady blue of Naruto's eyes and feels momentarily overwhelmed by love. He covers Naruto's face with kisses. At his jaw, he grows bolder and swipes his tongue across Naruto's neck. Immediately, hands make their way into his hair. The tug that follows is painfully satisfying.

Sasuke finds that he loves the way Naruto's skin feels underneath his tongue. Smooth in some places, rough over the scars. He sucks on his collarbone, then closes his lips over a nipple. Sucks.

"Sasuke!" Naruto groans, throwing his head back and mouth going slack. He bucks into him, pleasure briefly blinding them at the friction. "Ahh—"

 _I need you._

Naruto is his sun.

 _You have me._

* * *

His life had always been spinning around him. A blur that wears away all the colors. He never had to fear for Sasuke. Sasuke was his night. His moon and stars. There are no colors that could be worn away. There is only ever light in the darkness.

He needs him. With his back pressed against the edge, he grabs Sasuke and turns them around. Sasuke gasps as the cold stone meets his skin, lips swollen, and Naruto inhales him.

"I think it got to a point," he murmurs against soft lips. "Where I would be returning home to you—Sasuke— _you are my home_."

Naruto sucks on an earlobe, running his hands along the back that arches into him. He kisses his way over Sasuke's neck, then his collarbone. His bandaged shoulder. His heart. Memorizing the places that make Sasuke tremble again him.

"If you need me to stop," he whispers, breath hot against Sasuke's ear. "Tell me. It's okay."

"No. Don't," Sasuke's eyes flash red briefly. "Don't stop—you better not."

He pushes at his chest until Sasuke braces his hands against the edge and hauls himself out of the water. Naruto stares.

 _Different shape. Huh._

"Stop staring," Sasuke mutters, ears red. He kicks him, then rests his foot along the back of Naruto's broad shoulder. He's never let another person see him before.

Naruto meets his eye, then reaches forward and runs a curved finger along his length. Sasuke inhales sharply, head dipping back so his face shone in the fading moonlight. His eyes roll into his head, jaw falling open. Feeling brash, Naruto dips his head down and closes his mouth over the junction between Sasuke's leg and hip. Sucks.

Sasuke cries out, falling back against the stone and grasping at Naruto's head. Air spins in his lungs. He tries to buck up, but Naruto holds his hips down. His foot leaves a red mark on Naruto's shoulder. He releases Sasuke's skin from his mouth with a loud smack.

When Sasuke's erratic breathing calms down somewhat, Naruto looks up to meet hooded eyes with a mischievous grin. He doesn't think—only knows that he needs to taste him—before he wraps his lips around Sasuke's tip and sinks down his length.

"Naruto!" Sasuke arches so high that he sits up, his hold on Naruto's hair tightening as his legs tremble. Naruto chokes when he bucks into his throat and eases back a little. He registers the taste of Sasuke—bitter, salty, but sweet in how it is so, so _Sasuke_. He sucks and watches as Sasuke keens, sinking his teeth into his forearm. His stomach tightens beautifully under the moonlight. Naruto sucks again and again as he watches dark brows come together and apart, as he listens to Sasuke's voice rise and break over his name. Sucks until Sasuke shivers and whines and his mouth is full of him. "Shit— _ahh,_ Naruto. Oh, _Naruto_. Please—"

He kisses at Sasuke's thigh as he listens to his breaths. _In, out. In, out_. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke jerks his leg gently in response. He presses a kiss to the leg, wets his fingers in his mouth, and prods Sasuke's entrance. Sasuke hums, still settling down from earlier.

Naruto pulls himself out of the water with one hand and leans himself over him. "I want to see you."

Sasuke shifts when a finger enters him, lifting his hips up and turning to meet the blue gaze. "Naruto—what are you—"

"Hold on," he says, slowing pulling the finger out before pushing it back in. He watches Sasuke roll into the movement before adding a second finger, slowing down when he hears a hiss. A hand grips painfully at his bicep.

Naruto is patient, moving his hand slowly and pausing at any pained gasp. His arm grows sore and he twists his hand, pulling Sasuke's leg aside—

"Ngh—!"

"Sasuke?" He freezes.

"Do that again."

"This?" He tries to repeat the motion. Sasuke frowns.

"No."

He tries again. Then again, until Sasuke shudders against him and throws his head back. He smirks. _Huh_. Presses against that spot inside Sasuke and circles his fingers. Sasuke whines.

 _Inside Sasuke_.

The idea of it makes his heart warm. Sasuke. All of Sasuke. He pulls his hand away, kissing him full on the mouth when he protests, and rubs Sakura's healing ointment on himself. Seeing the tin that Naruto had retrieved from a few feet away, Sasuke raises an eyebrow, panting. "Isn't that mine?"

"Kind of?" Naruto offers him a sheepish smile.

"You brought it to the pool."

"Uh, yeah."

"You planned this."

"I planned a bath—or, a second one after my first," Naruto looks pointedly at the pool then waves a hand at their sweat-covered bodies. "This, uh, isn't according to plan."

Sasuke laughs and spreads his legs in approval.

 _He's letting me._ Naruto feels his love swell and kisses him again and enters him.

Sasuke cries out at the pain of the intrusion, and immediately Naruto freezes, running his hand gently through dark strands. He sucks on the spot behind Sasuke's ear until he relaxes. The heat of Sasuke around him fills him with want.

Sasuke wraps his arms around Naruto's neck, feeling him shake. "Okay. I'm okay," he tells him. He moves, but Sasuke winces and he stops again. His breath comes in quick bursts.

"Don't—want to hurt you," Naruto strains.

"I said I'm okay," Sasuke says, shifting his hips to adjust. He needs him. "Just move, _usuratonkachi_."

Naruto does, slowly at first, before he gives in to the tempo and fills Sasuke again and again. He shifts a hand underneath Sasuke's knee and lifts the leg up to give himself more space, pushing down—

"Naru— _to_!"

One look at Sasuke's face is all it takes, and Naruto kisses him with all the fervor and pain and want of their past and present, and presses into him until Sasuke shivers and tightens around him with his name against his lips.

"I love you so much," Naruto says. He takes his face into his hands and kisses closed eyes. "Sasuke, so much."

Arms come tightly around his neck. "Say that again."

"I love you."

"Again!"

"I love you." It takes only another moment before Naruto's back goes rigid and he groans into Sasuke's neck and Sasuke feels heat fill him.

 _This could be a song_. _Our bodies, singing_.

"Naruto?" Sasuke says when he can breathe again. Naruto is latched onto his side, face buried in his neck. His breath is like a feather against his collarbone.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

Naruto touches his lips to his chin and picks him up and throws him into the pool. When he resurfaces, dark hair plastered to his irritated face, Naruto is leaning over the edge—laughing—and cupping a hand to the back of his neck. His smile is blinding.

"Teme."

He only has a moment to breathe—to catch the early morning rays flickering over a golden crown—before he kisses the sun.


	9. Part 8: The Summer

A/N: Here is the last chapter. I'm sorry it's so late-I just really didn't know how I wanted to end all of this, but I'm satisfied now. Again, thank you for all the support and reviews! Also, I will be putting my efforts into a new story that will be coming soon! :)

Warning: Boy on boy action. Yup.

* * *

 **Part 8: The Summer**

Naruto would be lying if he claimed he isn't afraid in this very moment. They've been here two weeks now, sleeping and eating and swimming in between kissing. Loving. Fucking. Holding and holding and holding each other. But he had never completely given himself up, except in this moment. All Sasuke had to do was ask, and he had turned around. But he is afraid.

He can hear Sasuke breathing behind him, feel his lips trail over his ears and his neck and his back. Feel his tongue lie flat against the back of his upper thigh. He grips the ruddy blankets underneath him and shivers with his whole front pressed into their makeshift bed. He tries to move, to gain some relief from the friction against the blankets, but Sasuke holds a strong hand to his hip and keeps him still. The ocean still drips from his hair.

Two thumbs spread him apart, and Naruto quivers as Sasuke breathes onto him. His cheeks burn. The sun sits high in the afternoon sky and glimpses in at him through the curtain of moss. He had never felt this exposed in his entire life. Sasuke presses his lips to him _there_ and he throws his head back, his entire body shaking, shaking, shaking—

His throat is sore from his yell. A single, drawn out syllable that echoes in walls of the cave and drowns out the waves for the briefest of moments. Sasuke laps his tongue against him, and he careens forth only to go nowhere because his hips are held in place against the ground. He needs it so much it hurts.

" _Sasuke_."

 _Please._

 _Please._

 _Please._

He pleads with him through the lapping tongue, the timid finger, the brave and curving fingers, until finally, with a kiss pressed to his neck, Sasuke seats himself inside him and holds still. His mouth falls open.

"That place where the sky and the sun and the ocean meet," he huffs, breath quaking through the pain and Sasuke kisses him behind the ear, humming quiet encouragement. He clenches and takes pleasure in seeing Sasuke shake with effort. "It's not the horizon."

"What is it then?" Sasuke pulls out almost completely before pushing himself back in. Naruto grunts, lifting his hips and pressing his face into the blankets, grumbling.

"The asshole."

Sasuke laughs, his chest sliding against his back beautifully. "That's right."

Naruto hollers when Sasuke pulls out and pushes back in, into that one spot that steals his sight. Again and again and again. His mouth goes slack and his eyes fall shut. His body goes into spasms and he nearly rips the blanket with his grip. He throws his fingers into his mouth and bites down and cries, "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke."

 _Have me, Sasuke. Take all of me._

Sasuke licks at the shell of his ear, whispering, "I love you, Naruto. I love you and I love you and I love you."

When Sasuke fills him, Naruto comes. He collapses onto the blankets, chest rising and falling as if to remind him how to breathe. Sasuke leans over him, his breath warm against his ear. Naruto smiles and throws his arm over his neck and pulls until he falls against him, their naked bodies pressed together so that their sweat and essence become one. So that their bodies become one. Naruto kisses Sasuke full on the mouth.

"I love you."

* * *

The bandages around his abdomen and shoulder come off easily to reveal darkened scabs. Sasuke shifts in his position on his elbows, letting his head fall back just enough that his hair grazes the floor. With half-lidded eyes, he watches Naruto, with golden hair still damp with ocean and sweat, open the tin of ointment and scoop a generous amount into his index and middle fingers. He sighs when the cool medication is worked into his skin in light circles.

"I think this should be it," Sasuke says. "They're healed."

Naruto grunts a reply, but doesn't look away from where he is gently applying the ointment. His eyebrows come together in concentration. Sasuke turns his head and lazily takes in the signs of their life together. Blackened firewood sitting in a pile of ashes, fish bones and clam shells stacked from their most recent meal, Naruto's tangerine yukata laying in a heap at the entrance of the cave, having been thrown there haphazardly during their previous round of lovemaking. The cave smells of Naruto, of him.

Naruto had become more than just a part of him. He had become his breath, his heartbeat. Sasuke realizes they had never spent so much uninterrupted time together. He knows it won't be forever, but revels in its timelessness.

Naruto leans forward to apply ointment to his shoulder, and winces. Sasuke reaches over to run a hand through the mess of sunshine atop his head and smirks. "Are you okay?"

Blue eyes fix on his face with a knowing look. "Fine."

"Fine." He echoes. Pretends to think. "Sore?"

Naruto reddens. "A bit."

 _Naruto, let me love you._

 _You do._

 _No, let me love you the way you love me. Let me show you. Let me show you how much I love you._

He traces his fingers over Naruto's cheek, marred with the imprint of blankets from when he had pressed his face into it barely a moment ago. Had exposed his backside and given himself to Sasuke. He remembers how in that moment, he felt powerful, with love and in love. Naruto had let him in, in the way he curved underneath him, stuffed his fingers in his mouth and called his name until his voice grew hoarse.

 _Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke._

He catches the drop of sweat that falls from Naruto's strong chin with his thumb, runs it over his bottom lip, and kisses him on the mouth. Runs his tongue over his lips. He tastes like the ocean. Naruto gives up on applying the ointment and settles for pressing his entire body onto Sasuke's. Sasuke loves to feel the pulse of Naruto's heart against his own.

"We should go back."

Sasuke isn't surprised. "Okay." He pauses in staking the fish he had just caught when Naruto leans forward and runs a hand through his dark hair, lips soft and damp when they press lightly against his temple. "When?"

"In two days?"

Sooner than he had expected. He bites his lip, already missing the freedom of the beach and the sound of the waves. Sand clings to his body as he sits up and he holds the fish over the fire that Naruto had made. His sun had always returned home, and it's about time he did too. Home, with Naruto. "Okay."

There's a moment of silence before Naruto tilts his head to look him in the face. "You're not okay."

"I am."

"No, you're not. You're not even looking at me."

Sasuke makes it a point to meet his gaze.

"Sasuke."

He shrugs. "It's just sooner than I thought it'd be. I'm not sure if I'm ready."

Naruto moves over and presses his chest to Sasuke's back, burying his face in his hair. "I won't leave you. Ever."

Sasuke breathes. There's something caught in his throat.

"I won't."

He doesn't know he is crying until Naruto takes the staked fish from his trembling grasp and sticks it into the sand. A warm hand comes around his neck and another runs soothingly down his bare back. A kiss is pressed into his hairline. "Sasuke, why are you crying?"

He shakes his head, his face scrunched and his chest heaving with hiccups. Naruto kisses his eyelids, pushes his hair away, cups his face in his hands. Grains of sand rub painfully into his cheeks but he lets himself be taken into the shared silence. It won't always just be the two of them, but for now all he needs is the feeling of Naruto against him.

Exactly two days later, as he is folding and stuffing a bright orange yukata into the one knapsack in their possession, Naruto calls out to him, his eyes steady and blue blue blue.

"You know I'm yours, right?"

Sasuke smiles.

* * *

It had taken Naruto, with frequent stops and an injured Sasuke on his back, eight days to travel to the ocean. He had followed the river, watching it narrow and widen, quicken and slow, until it opened into the sea. The trip was spent mostly in silence, only broken every night when he would lay Sasuke's head on his lap and beg him to wake up. To fill the time, Kurama told him stories of the lives of his ancestors, before the Uchiha-Senju war.

They trudge away from the ocean and follow the river home. It takes thirteen days—much longer than he had expected it would, because it turns out that an awake Sasuke leads to even more frequent stops than an unconscious one. He's distracting. Sasuke can often be found on his back—his own back, this time—against a tree, or the riverbank, or even once, on a tree branch near a squirrel that quickly becomes scarred for life, with Naruto happily settled between his legs. Sometimes, Naruto is pushed to his knees and his elbows, and Sasuke would press slowly into him as he laps at the shell of his ear. So slowly that Naruto would push his forehead against the ground and beg.

Other times, they hunt, eat, and talk. They talk a lot, about dreams and wishes and their time apart, and Naruto insists on holding Sasuke's hand as they step along the riverbank. Sasuke admits that he loves his family, but he doesn't really know them. After all, they had only shared three years of his life and Danzo had been manipulating most of it. He'd only met his brother once. Is it weird to love people that you don't really know? Naruto kisses his fingers and tells him that it's okay.

Just before they reach the compound, they stop by the clearing where they used to throw rocks and shuriken into trees. The lopsided sketches of tree-Naruto and tree-Sasuke are faded after years of their absence, but Sasuke quickly takes more sap and traces over the lines. Naruto smiles, dips his finger in the dark sap, and draws three lines onto each of Sasuke's cheeks. A mosquito buzzes by Sasuke's ear, and Naruto slaps his head in attempt to kill it. Sasuke grimaces, the sap on his face curving with his cheeks. The mosquito, alive and well, buzzes off in the summer heat. Naruto laughs and presses a kiss into each cheek, coming away with blackened lips and leaving smudged whiskers. Sasuke takes Naruto's lips into his mouth and Naruto licks his face clean. He giggles with his eyes scrunched up. The sap is sweet on their tongues.

The forest rustles as Matatabi makes her way into the clearing. She purrs and wraps Sasuke into her two tails. The smile on Sasuke's face is so big that his cheeks hurt. They exchange stories until the sun begins to fall. Sasuke turns to Naruto and watches him watch the sun. It's time to return, and this time, Sasuke is going with him.

Naruto stands in front of the Senju compound with his hand intertwined with Sasuke's. For the first time, the gates to the compound are open. He focuses on the feeling of Sasuke's fingers in between his own, and takes a breath. "Ready?"

"Yes." Sasuke hums.

* * *

The first person to see him is Sakura. She is just stepping out of the infirmary, having completed her shift, when she catches a splash of gold out of the corner of her eye. She'd recognize that head anywhere.

"Naruto," she breathes. Takes a small step, pauses, then one after another until she is running into him. She leaps and wraps her arms around his neck. His arms come firmly around her waist. "You're back."

"Sakura-chan," he laughs into her neck. "It's so good to see you."

She is babbling as soon as he releases her. "So much has changed since you left. Danzo and his men are contained, and Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama are working together, and it's weird being friendly with the Uchiha but we're rebuilding—slowly but surely—and—and—fuck, _where have you been_?"

Naruto opens his mouth to speak, but by then, his golden mess of hair had been spotted by multiple people, who all come running.

"Naruto!" It's Shikamaru, and Lee, and Chouji, and Karin, and Hinata. He makes out Neji and Tenten and Kiba making their way to him—slower than the others, but with smiles on their faces. They surround him, slapping him on the back and ruffling his overgrown hair and laughing as they take turns folding him into their arms. Sasuke nods politely to Sakura and Lee as they turn their attention to him and introduce themselves.

The door to the Commandant Room slides open from the bustle and Hashirama emerges. His face breaks into a smile and he turns his head to say something to the room. Suddenly, he is pushed aside as Kushina rushes out, Jiraiya and Mito hot on her heels. Hashirama laughs heartily, and makes room by the door for Tobirama and Tsunade as they watch the Senju heir fall into the arms of his mother, of his family.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Kushina folds Sasuke's hands into her own. When he looks at her in barely-concealed shock, she smiles, "I am Naruto's mother."

Naruto watches the way his mother looks at Sasuke, and feels his heart swell with warmth. He'd longed for the day to introduce Sasuke to his family, to his friends, without any reprimand. He turns his head and meets the gaze of his grandfather, who offers him an approving smile and a nod.

"Naruto."

It's Neji who calls him. He stands broad-shouldered by Kiba and Tenten. His old team. Naruto doesn't know how to approach him, and opts for a hesitant smile. "Hey, you guys."

"It's good to see you," Neji pulls him into an embrace and Naruto's brows disappear into his hairline in surprise. "About before—we understand. No hard feelings, okay?"

He relaxes. "No hard feelings."

Tenten whoops and Kiba punches the air and they jump onto him, ruffling his hair and pinching his cheeks. He laughs and slaps away their hands, demanding their treat to ramen. A shock of grey suddenly catches his eye, and he finds Kakashi walking towards the edge of the group alongside Obito. His hand flies to his hip on instinct. As his fingers close around the empty space his katana used to fill, he has to remind himself that the war is over.

He greets them with a nod that is returned, then watches as they take turns embracing Sasuke. It's a much more controlled welcome than the one his own family had given him, but he shakes it off as an Uchiha thing and runs up to greet his grandfather.

"Danzo and the Shimura Clan have been contained," Hashirama tells him after their round of greetings and embraces.

"What will be of them?" Naruto takes in the serious faces of Hashirama, Tobirama, and Tsunade. They seem exhausted, but it is nothing compared to the gaunt complexions they carried during the war.

"It hasn't been determined as of yet. We're looking at exile, perhaps." Tobirama says.

Tsunade nods. "Rebuilding the clan in a time of peace is more urgent. We've had to re-allocate a lot of our resources into other things since they're not being used for war. Trade and the such."

"And the Uchiha?" Naruto bites his lip, but knows that the presence of Kakashi and Obito is a positive sign.

"We are forming an alliance—a friendship, if you will. It is good that you and Sasuke are back," says Hashirama. "Itachi is helping Madara with running the clan, and I suspect they will be happy to see Sasuke as well. And you," he places a hand on his shoulder. "You are going to step back in as commander-in-training—except, well, now that the war is over, I suspect we will need a new name for that. There is no need for a commander any longer."

"Wait," Naruto frowns. He chances a brief glance at Sasuke, who seems to be chatting away with his family under the curious gazes of the Senju. A few girls are sneaking looks at him and giggling to themselves. "I'm sure my team reported the incident that led to my capture. I turned on my men. I don't think—"

"That has been discussed in length," Tobirama interrupts. His face is pulled into a stern, steady smile. "After the Last Battle, we understand that it was an act beyond the names of Senju and Uchiha. You saw beyond what any of the rest of us did."

Hashirama nods. "However, there will be a vote amongst the warriors in three weeks on whether or not they will accept you as a leader again. But I suspect they will. Your friendship has no boundaries, and that is admirable."

Naruto shakes off the hand on his shoulder and bows his head. "You don't understand. Sasuke. I love him."

"Yes, it is important to love your friends."

"No, no. What I'm saying is that we're together, we're—lovers." It's odd to have to declare this out loud.

"Oh."

Naruto takes in the shocked faces of Tobirama and Tsunade, and the somewhat complacent face of his grandfather, as if the Senju commander had known all along. He nods his farewells respectfully, and runs back into the crowd where he kisses his mother's cheek and grabs Sasuke's hand. "We're going home! Bye everyone!"

Sasuke waves a frantic goodbye to his family and quickly falls into pace with him. "Home?"

"Yeah," Naruto intertwines their fingers and turns his head to catch Sasuke smiling to himself.

* * *

Naruto spends the next four weeks bustling between the Senju and Uchiha compounds, strengthening alliances and trade with other clans, stuffing his face with ramen, and pressing kisses into Sasuke's neck. The Senju warriors had unanimously agreed that he is fit to be their next leader, but not after a few dubious glances at his relationship with the second Uchiha heir. Naruto had gladly sat his friends and family down and patiently answered their questions. In the end, everyone had agreed that love is love. No matter what form. They could see it in the way the two looked and touched, as if the world could fall and they would still kiss amidst the ruins.

Kushina had ruffled his hair after that. "Your father would be proud."

With Itachi back, Sasuke is no longer expected to inherit the Uchiha clan. Still, he spends a good amount of time at the Uchiha compound, talking with his brother and his grandfather. He finds that they are both rather sarcastic, and that he always falls at the brunt of all their jokes. It doesn't hurt though—he rather enjoys the attention.

The Shimura clan, along with Danzo, is exiled from the Land of Fire. Everyone gathers to watch them trail away. Naruto pretends not to notice how few are left in comparison to the army that had ambushed them weeks ago. Any with transplanted Uchiha eyes had quickly discovered their failing eyesight and immune system upon extensive use.

Other clans in their alliance spread out into the forest between the Senju and Uchiha compounds, their smaller compounds soon connecting the two. Naruto and Sasuke build their own house alongside the river, where they used to play as children. They repaint their tree portraits by their home, but avoid throwing shuriken and stones at them now. That game had become real at one point in their lives.

The Senju don't need Naruto to lead them just yet, so he spends as much time as he can out in the forest. Whenever Naruto brings up moving back to the Senju compound for convenience, Hashirama pats his own chest and hollers, "I'm still going strong!"

It's quieter here, and they spend time skipping stones across the water. Naruto shows Sasuke the first stone he had thrown at his head.

"You kept it?" He stares in disbelief. "All this time?"

Naruto nods and Sasuke kisses him until he is breathless.

Kushina and Itachi visit often, bringing baskets of ramen and onigiri that are eagerly gobbled up. Sometimes, Obito comes by and Naruto is surprised to find how similar in personality they are. They become fast friends.

A broken leaf lands on Sasuke's chest as they are sleeping by the bubbling river, and Naruto holds it up between his thumb and forefinger. Aims it to the sky and sees the sun fill the hole.

"Konoha," he says with his head nestled into Sasuke's shoulder.

"What?" Sasuke murmurs, blinking away his sleep.

"This place that we've built. Let's call it Konoha."

Sasuke looks at him, sees blue blue blue and gold gold gold. The smile that thrums with life. He kisses him and laughs against his hair and lies back and tries to remember his dream with his eyes closed against the sun.

It started in summer with two boys. One with a wooden sword, and one with a stone.


End file.
